Sky Sports and the Gaelic Athletic Association are set to extend their relationship with a new scheme to help youngsters stay involved in the sport ©Sky Sports

Sky Sports is to make a £2.6 million ($3.6 million/€3 million) investment in the major Irish amateur sports body, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

The pay TV group will launch the GAA Super Games Centres (SGCs) on Thursday (September 21).

These are aimed at reducing the drop-out rate among 12 to 21-year-olds in both Gaelic football and hurling, the main games the GAA deals with, though it also caters for camogie, a female form of hurling, as well as rounders and handball.

The GAA plans to host 154 SGCs around Ireland between September and May for both boys and girls.

Up to 25 children will be involved in each centre with the GAA seeking to attract 3,500 participants in year one, and Sky planning to top 20,000 over the five years, with kits and equipment provided.

"This is going to be an opportunity to mix genders," Neal O’Rourke, Sky Ireland’s financial director, told The Irish Times. 

"The Super Games Centres are going to be held all around the country.

"This is really about getting kids out there playing games, but not necessarily focusing on winning."

Sky will also partner with the GAA in the holding of a youth forum in Dublin's Croke Park on October 28 and is backing a two-day games development conference, involving more than 800 leading grassroots coaches.

Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, a pundit on Sky’s golf coverage and big GAA fan, is understood to be taking part in this event.

Gaelic football enjoys devoted following all around the world with Irish emigrants ©Getty Images
Gaelic football enjoys devoted following all around the world with Irish emigrants ©Getty Images

This sponsorship follows Sky’s renewal of its live rights with the GAA for five years until 2021. 

This allows it to show 14 games a season and has proved controversial with many GAA members.

O'Rourke said the GAA investment was beneficial.

"There’s no contract with that, there’s no commitment to Sky and we believe that’s made the games more accessible," he said.

"If this wasn’t working for us we would be reinvesting in rights and we certainly wouldn’t be launching this sponsorship."

Nielsen figures show Sky’s average audience for its GAA games this season is about 40,000 viewers, up about 11 per cent on 2016. 

This does not include high-definition viewing, those using Sky Go or Now TV, or those watching in pubs and clubs.

Gaelic games attract huge viewing among Irish emigrants all over the world, with the sports being played in an estimated 32 countries.