Leinster GAA has decided to switch both provincial SFC semi-finals outside of Croke Park, meaning that it will be the first occasion since 1995 that both provincial last-four encounters will not be played at GAA headquarters.
The semi-final fixture are down for decision at the end of April, making it likely that two standalone fixtures will be arranged at different regional grounds.
Last year's Leinster semi-final doubleheader attracted just over 21,000 at Croke Park making it the lowest attendance for that stage of the competition for 14 years.
"We looked at the last number of semi-finals and the emptiness of the Croke Park stadium," Leinster GAA chair Derek Kent explained.
"There was less of an atmosphere and teams were travelling to be there, so we took the decision as a council to move to provincial grounds.
"We are all aware of how good the provincial grounds are, we have capacities from 14,000 to 22,000 and of course we will have a nightmare in terms of fixtures as we will also have big provincial games to cater for at that time but I think this is a development that our supporters want.
"And my own preference is for a single, standalone fixture for both semi-finals.
"With the capacity of our provincial grounds a single game should fill that."
Kent explained that the extremely disappointing attendance at Croke Park for the weekend's football league finals were not a factor.
A crowd of just 21,596 turned up to see Kerry defeat Mayo and Offaly beat Kildare.
This was the lowest crowd for a Division 1 final in over a decade.
But Kent said it had no relevance to what Leinster GAA had decided to do.
"This (moving the semi-finals outside of Croke Park) was spoken about in the council some weeks back.
"Our Central Competitions Control Committee agreed to the move last Thursday.
"It didn’t make any difference what happened at the weekend."
Meanwhile, Leinster GAA have also dropped all adult stand ticket prices for this weekend’s opening bout of SFC fixtures.
Ticket prices will fall from €25 to €15 for three games on the cards across Saturday and Sunday, including Wexford v Laois, Meath v Carlow and Longford v Wicklow.
"Most teams are out almost every weekend," Kent added.
"Some teams were playing last weekend in league finals and could be out four weekends in a row.
"By charging €15 we could maybe learn something.
"With a lower price our attendances might go up."
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