GAELIC GAMES/2006 hurling championship launch: Croke Park is finalising separate plans to pay elite players for promoting the upcoming championship despite the fact discussions between the association and the Gaelic Players Association are still taking place. Gavin Cummiskey reports

GAA marketing manager Dermot Power spoke yesterday of an advertising campaign that will be launched on television by the end of May. He would not disclose the fee players will receive but confirmed they would be paid directly by the GAA.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. Our view is very simple: if a third party like Bank of Ireland or Guinness were using players we would expect them to pay it. If we make the ad, using branding like Guinness or Bank of Ireland, we pay them. It's a big step forward."

Power noted this is not a new departure for the GAA and recalled they ran similar campaigns for the International Rules test series, when he worked closely with the professional Australian Football League.

Also, this year 13 players received fees for lending their image to the Cúl camps project.

"When we heard people say it's a pity the GAA doesn't do that we can say, 'Well, actually we did do that.' What it actually proves is marketing does work. You can create an event by that.

"The Cúl camps this year was the next (player-promoted) event. This is quite an innovation as we have created a brand. Cúl camps is our brand. We lease a space on it to the sponsors and we promote it. The TV advertising and use of players was our initiative this year.

"It's an absolutely natural follow-on to start having players promote our own championships. Ironically we have been doing it, with a lot of the ads from the quarter-finals on (last season). The bits of action and details of the match have been ours.

"There are two or three creative ideas floating around at the minute so we hope to get a look at them this week."

The advertising firm Larkin Partnership have been contracted to spearhead the campaign to create greater public awareness early in the championship. This form of player marketing could expand to the national leagues by 2007.

"It's much more difficult in the league," says Power. "For instance, for the final we only got four or five days' notice of the match so it was very difficult to put something together.

"I think we have to look more at where we play the games and when we play them. Build a whole package and create an event as much as promoting a match."