Sports firm, O’Neills is forecasting that the condensed All Ireland series in senior hurling and football will result in a 12 per cent to 15 per cent drop off in the company’s replica county shirt sales this year.
Co-owner of O’Neills, Paul Towell said today that the completion of the men’s All Ireland series with the July staging of the All-Ireland senior hurling and football finals “is not good for business”.
Usually at this time of year, sports retailers are busy selling replica shirts for counties that have made it through to the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals as the hype builds towards the season climax of the September finals.
However, Mr Towell said that the ending of the men’s All-Ireland last month will leave the firm's August’s shirt sales “very badly affected”.