Case Study: Blackrock Hurling Club’s Experience with APWireless

Blackrock Hurling Club, Cork, had an incredibly positive experience partnering with APWireless. According to Alan McGee, our appointed contact from the club committee and club solicitor: “Working alongside Ronan was very enjoyable, he always kept us well-informed and we felt supported in our decision-making. Ronan showed great professionalism from our initial phone-call through to closing the deal. He ensured that no stone was left unturned in working through the legal process with the club and structuring the deal in the way that bets suited our investment plans. The steps along the way were made as simple as possible and we viewed Ronan as a trusted advisor more than anything.” APWireless offered Blackrock Hurling Club a sustainable, workable solution that was for the best interest of both partners involved. From the beginning, they presented a clear proposal around our capitalising the telecoms rental income stream that was easy to understand and see logic in. Given the intricacies of the telecoms market that can often go unnoticed by one off telecoms landlords like ourselves, we appreciated their professional insight and advice. What I liked about APWireless was their focus on the positives; they recognised we had a good telecoms site and so it was all about how the deal could benefit both parties.

Initially, we were concerned about losing out on the long-term incremental payments since we relied on these for the necessary running of the club. Then, when we spoke with other organisations who had previously partnered with APWireless, we realised the many benefits of receiving the upfront capital. They were able to further develop their club facilities and infrastructure through receiving a lump-sum of money. Our ongoing discussions made it clear that accepting the offer was definitely the best option for our club and its members. Looking back, we are very pleased with the choice we made. Since converting our mast lease asset to an upfront payment, Blackrock Hurling Club has utilised the funds to better our facilities by progressing capital development on our pitches and floodlights. As a result, our members have benefitted from the modern state-of-the-art facilities we can now offer. If we have opted to decline the partnership, we would have needed to ask our club members for increased fundraising initiatives to afford these necessary enhancements.

Blackrock Hurling Club would recommend working with APWireless to other clubs, both part of and external to the GAA. From our experience, we recommend clubs to develop a strategy to replace the annual increments through other means, whilst utilising the upfront payment by investing into larger, capital-dependent projects. Throughout the experience, we found their team highly professional, helpful, cooperative and insightful. Our club has benefited greatly from working with APWireless, and we would welcome another opportunity to partner again down the line if it came available.