Gaelic Athletic Association Dir General Páraic Duffy has "admitted the GAA would be open to selling the naming rights" to Croke Park, according to Ian O'Riordan of the IRISH TIMES. The Sky Arena, perhaps? Duffy was "addressing several ongoing funding issues" for the association, including the need to "direct more money into the so-called weaker counties." He admitted that other stadiums, such as Páirc Uí Chaoimh, might be "considering naming rights in the more immediate future." Duffy: "There's nothing against stadium naming rights. We have Kingspan Breffni Park, etc. So we've accepted the principle of it. And if Cork came to us with a proposal [for Páirc Uí Chaoimh], we'd certainly look at it. It would be up to them to come up with a proposal. We have never had any offers on Croke Park, nor have we sought it. It has never been discussed, really. That’s for the GAA to decide. But I don’t see it as likely. I can't talk for 50 or 100 years down the line. But in the near future I would say, no." There are currently five GAA stadiums that have "sold their naming rights: Breffni Park (Kingspan), MacHale Park (Elverys), Pearse Park (Glennon Brothers), Dr Cullen Park (Netwatch) and more recently Wexford Park," which this year has "agreed a four-year deal" with technology company Innovate. Páirc Uí Chaoimh is "currently undergoing" a €70M ($75.5M) redevelopment -- €30M ($32.3M) of that has come from the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform, with the other €40M ($43.1M) coming from the GAA (IRISH TIMES, 4/16).
