Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) paid to be included as a square on the local edition of the board game Monopoly, buying a “gold” package from UK company Winning Moves.

The city’s other publicly funded third-level institute, NUI Galway, featured on a more expensive square on the board. However, the university says it has no record of having paid for the privilege.

Both institutes were contacted by a sales executive from Winning Moves in May 2015, offering them a range of packages for inclusion in the Galway edition of the game.

GMIT ultimately opted for the “gold” package, which saw the college represented as a square on the board game valued at M300 (Monopoly dollars). It also featured on the box lid and on one of the game’s Community Chest cards.

The same gold, silver and bronze packages were offered to NUI Galway, along with a pricing structure that required annual payments for the privilege of featuring on the board.

However, records released under the Freedom of Information Act suggest that the university showed little interest in the proposal.

Despite repeated contact from Winning Moves, the matter was only escalated by a marketing assistant to senior management on June 30 – one day before the deadline for availing of the offers.

A GMIT spokesperson said the package offered by Winning Moves had represented value for money. “The game was forecast to sell in significant volumes for the first three years, and would stay in retail after that at no additional cost to GMIT,” she said.

“GMIT’s participation in Galway Monopoly was part of a wide range of marketing activities. It was designed to create awareness with GMIT’s target audience.”

The spokesperson declined to reveal the cost of the package.

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