Wicklow GAA has announced a €1.5m joint sponsorship agreement with Echelon Data Centres and the home builder Beakonshaw that ranks it among Gaelic games' top earners.
As part of the €300k per year deal from 2023-28, the County Grounds in Aughrim will be named Echelon Park Aughrim, while both companies will become player development partners of Wicklow GAA.
That figure ranks close to the €400,000 per year Sport Direct pay to sponsor Cork, widely believed to come in third behind AIG in Dublin and Kerry Group in that county, both of whose support is reckoned to be around double that figure again.
Wicklow will play Division 4 football - under new manager Oisin McConville - and Division 2B hurling next year.
By comparison, Offaly, who will compete in Division 3 and 2A, signed a sponsorship this year with yoghurt makers Glenisk that is reportedly worth €150k per year.
Wicklow GAA said the €300,000 per annum will "go towards increasing coaching hours in schools, improving competitiveness at underage county level, further developing our structures at Wicklow GAA's Garden County Academy, and driving standards to broaden the talent pipeline for senior inter-county squads.
"At elite level, it will help fund the county’s Player Development Pathway, the appointment of a High-Performance Director for Wicklow GAA, and the ongoing development of facilities at the renamed Echelon Centre of Excellence, Ballinakill. Beakonshaw’s name and logo will appear on the sleeves of the Wicklow GAA senior team jerseys, and on the front of Wicklow GAA juvenile team jerseys."
Martin Fitzgerald, Wicklow GAA chairman, said the sponsorship was vital for the future success of GAA in the county.
"The continued development of our players is a key strategic focus for us," he said. "The positive impact that this investment will have at all levels in Wicklow GAA is unprecedented and may be the most important partnership for our future development as an organisation."
"It will allow us to increase support for clubs and schools at grass roots level – and it will also allow us to put in place the structures and resources required for our footballers and hurlers to compete at a national level.
"Wicklow GAA has ambitious plans for our minor and senior teams – but success takes talent, dedication, and resources. We believe we have the talent and dedication; now, thanks to this sponsorship deal with Echelon Data Centres and Beakonshaw, we have the financial backing to make it happen."
