SIZE MATTERS – at least that is what social media will tell you.
The latest example came this week when a video from Virgin Media’s launch of their League of Ireland coverage.
Cork City’s Evan McLaughlin said Cork City are the biggest club in Ireland, and City fans were swooned and some non-City fans pointed and laughed.
This column is not here to discuss who is right.
We can understand why City fans might want to boast when one of the all-time great quotes by Damien Richardson was about how they were “ridden rock solid by Dublin.”
But those who are genuinely big often let others comment on their size – Shane Duffy and Real Madrid for instance.
And if size is important to you, bragging about being the biggest in the League of Ireland is not really something to brag about.
The League of Ireland last year burst through the million spectator mark for the first time which – absolutely – is a good thing.
But Leinster Rugby had almost half that off 14 games at three venues during 2024 with an average crowd across those games of 34,922. It is north of 50,000 for all four provinces.
The total average attendance across the ten Premier Division clubs last season was 37,990.
The TAM ratings for 2024 show that six rugby games in the top ten watched programmes; the only football one is the Euro 2024 final.
Is this rugby country? League of Ireland social media would go into meltdown if Guinness bring back that ad.
There are obviously mitigating factors.
Bohemians, Shelbourne and St Patrick’s Athletic are burst at the seams of their old grounds with regular sell-outs. Are they big or are their surroundings just too tight?
And, until this season, the League of Ireland has always lacked regular television coverage that comes with lots of promotion.
Virgin Media’s four-year deal to show at least one game a week will change that and should help the league grow in size.
Much like rugby that has held one-off games at GAA grounds, the February 16 Dublin Derby between Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers at the Aviva will be special.
The need for bigger stadia for regular games is also well documented with both Shelbourne and St Patrick’s Athletic working wonders to add some capacity for this season.
Derry City will also have a capacity increase this season while other clubs will, hopefully see ground developments in the near future.
But that also means fanbases must get bigger to go with it as gauging whether a sell-out means there are 10,000 or ten people missing out is not an exact science.
Shamrock Rovers and Cork City both have bigger homes at Tallaght and Turner’s Cross and have few sell outs.
While it would be unfair to use City’s First Division attendance as a barometer, getting tickets for either club’s games is rarely a problem.
Everyone wants to see the League of Ireland be big. But working towards sell-outs show it better than social media can ever talk about it.
