Bord Gáis Energy has become the Official Energy Sustainability Partner of the GAA and Croke Park, extending a 17-year hurling sponsorship into a dedicated energy efficiency and decarbonisation programme, giving energy suppliers a working template for turning sponsorship spend into infrastructure and customer-acquisition channels. The renewed three-year agreement runs from 2027 to 2030 and covers Croke Park and GAA clubs nationwide.

Bord Gáis Energy is a Cork-headquartered energy supplier marking its 50th year in business, providing electricity, gas and renewable energy solutions to homes and businesses across Ireland.

GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) is Ireland's largest sporting organisation, headquartered at Croke Park, Dublin, governing hurling, Gaelic football and related sports nationwide.

The agreement includes a new energy insights management system at Croke Park to track consumption and identify efficiency gains, continued renewable electricity supply for stadium technology including Hawk-Eye and scoreboards, and discounts of up to €1,500 on solar installations for GAA clubs, alongside a €125 electricity credit.

Chairman Dave Kirwan said the sponsorship means so much to our customers, colleagues and hurling supporters nationwide. Director of customer and commercial Catherine Lonergan said the deal reflects the company's ambition to support Ireland's transition to a lower-carbon future.

The deal reflects a structural shift in how energy suppliers use sponsorship platforms: not purely for brand visibility, but as delivery infrastructure for services, energy audits, solar discounts, consumption data, that would otherwise require separate marketing spend to reach the same audience.

That shift is happening against a growing market. Irish sponsorship investment is projected to reach €247 million in 2026, up 5% on 2025, with rights holders under increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable return rather than exposure alone, a bar that embedded energy-efficiency services help sponsors clear more concretely than traditional signage or broadcast deals.

For the sector, the practical value, solar discounts and bill credits, opens a direct commercial channel into thousands of community organisations nationwide, a distribution model other suppliers now have reason to replicate through their own sponsorship portfolios.

The 17-year sponsorship history also matters here: it demonstrates that incumbency built through long-running community partnerships is becoming a differentiator for the sector, not just a defensive retention tool, as switching-driven competition intensifies.

Source: Business Plus / ONSIDE / Sponsorship.org