GAA doing a deal with SkySports

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

It's only nine games FFS! Viewers in Ireland lose 9 games, international viewers gain them all. We come out ahead overall.

It is Irish teams that are playing in these games and the people in these places that will not be able to see their county. Let the GAA provide British games to people in Britain if it wants, but stop taxing people in Ireland to facilitate foreigners.

Oh, so you lose Irish citizenship as soon as you emigrate? Am I a "foreigner" now?

The poor ould Armagh boy would rather watch it on the BritishBC and pays taxes to the government in Dublin to fund RTE I'm sure.

[BennyHarp]

It's only nine games FFS! Viewers in Ireland lose 9 games, international viewers gain them all. We come out ahead overall.

It is Irish teams that are playing in these games and the people in these places that will not be able to see their county. Let the GAA provide British games to people in Britain if it wants, but stop taxing people in Ireland to facilitate foreigners.

Armaghniac, either you are on the wind up or you are incredibly thick. I hope it's the former because it would be mad to think that there are actually people in Ireland who view the Irish abroad like you do.

[joey brandon]

This is awful news. I never thought they would actually do it.

[Redhand Santa]

Aye, and put the price of the ticket up. Not so slow...

I'm pretty sure the price of championship tickets haven't gone up in recent years. The quarter finals and semi finals actually reduced. I think the qualifiers may have gone down and certainly in ulster the championship matches haven't gone up. Also the gaa has been very good at making family tickets available particularly in croke park. Up to the final children's tickets can be purchased for €5. Also new group ticket concessions were introduced were big games could be entered for something like €10.

The gaa gets a hard time despite the fact that it reinvests the majority of the money made, is cheaper than other major sporting events such as rugby and the vast majority of its games are free to watch.

[Sidney]

It's only nine games FFS! Viewers in Ireland lose 9 games, international viewers gain them all. We come out ahead overall.

It is Irish teams that are playing in these games and the people in these places that will not be able to see their county. Let the GAA provide British games to people in Britain if it wants, but stop taxing people in Ireland to facilitate foreigners.

You do realise that you're in the same jurisdiction as these "foreigners", and their taxes subsidise you, right?

[orangeman]

EUGENE MCGEE – UPDATED 02 APRIL 2014 07:26 AM

Giving with one hand and taking with the other – that is about the best description of the Sky deal worked out in protracted discussions between Sky television and the GAA.


On the one hand, the GAA has achieved a cherished ambition of spreading the coverage of live games far beyond Ireland, particularly to Britain, via Sky, but at the same time as these new viewers are being facilitated, Sky will be closing the doors on thousands of people all over Ireland who do not have Sky and many of whom will be unwilling or unable for financial reasons to buy a Sky subscription.

Over half a million people in Ireland are aged 70 or over and the same number are aged 16 or under.

It is very possible that thousands in those categories will be unable to watch any of the 14 games shown only on Sky.

This scenario was brought to my attention last week when the first leaks about the Sky deal emanated from some of the parties involved in the negotiations.

Two brothers of my acquaintance, aged 72 and 76, who live in a rural part of the country on their own, have always regarded Gaelic football as an integral part of their lives.

They played for the local club for over 20 years, they were on the club committee and they often assisted in preparing young players to become footballers in the local pitch. Days out to watch their own and neighbouring counties play were the highlights of their year, but in recent years, because of their age, that has become something they have been unable to do so.

Instead, they watched the live televised games in the championship, regardless of what counties were involved.

They were heartbroken when they heard that they would not see 14 games in this year's championship because they have never had Sky and have absolutely no intention of spending their scarce money on a subscription as other sports do not interest them.

So, this is the downside of the new deal and I have no doubt the leading GAA officials are painfully aware of it.

They in their wisdom felt that this was a sacrifice worth bearing for the greater good of the GAA and, particularly, to push GAA coverage onto many more television sets around the word.

Channel 7 in Australia, for instance, will show all the televised games live in 2014, which will certainly appeal to the recent droves of Irish people who have emigrated to that country.

But won't it be ironic when the grandson of a recent Irish emigrant gets on the phone to discuss a game that has just ended on Channel 7 in Australia to tell his grandad all about it 12,000 miles away?

How will the old man feel about the fact that he cannot watch the same match in his own kitchen? At the other end of the age scale, we have thousands of boys and girls aged 16 and under who also may not be able to see big games because their home does not have Sky television.

The GAA has carefully cultivated the youth GAA market with great success, but we wonder how the young people will feel if and when they are unable to watch big games live this summer and it will certainly not be well-received.

On the broader scene, the history of amateur sports that were subject to pay-to-view usually sees them going professional, with rugby union being the best example.

INFLUENCE

It is too soon for scare stories about GAA games in that regard, but, as historian Paul Rouse said yesterday, this Sky venture is not just the thin edge of the wedge, it is the whole wedge and in future years we can be sure Sky's presence and influence on GAA games will increase – for better or worse.

The concluding stages of the championships will be the most interesting period in the battle for television supremacy because the final six games in football and hurling, including the All-Ireland finals, will be shown by both RTE and Sky which will make for a fascinating comparison between the stations.

[seafoid]

Liam O'Neill is obviously new to the media game

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2014/0401/606068-oneill-denies-comments-were-insulting/

He added: "Paraic Duffy and I are as conservative and traditional as you will get in the GAA. We are looking at a package here that will satisfy the broad group of people that we are trying to satisfy. "Those that want to constantly refer to those that won't get to see those games will harp on and quite frankly you couldn't please everybody anyway and that's the nature of it."

I would love to see the Apres Match team riffing on that

[J OGorman]

The winners and losers in this:

Irish living abroad - winners
Foreigners - winners
Those in Australia - winners
Anyone living in Ireland (i.e. those providing the matches everyone wants to see) - losers

Look, you boyos with sky or who are benefitting from this can call us criers or whatever all you want, bottom line is, the games should be free to air. I've lived and worked and played GAA in the states, I know the craic. I've done the same in the Warwickshire, again, I know the craic, and Australia. Those selling lotto, national draw tix, stewarding at club games should not have to pay above the TV license to watch their games. Would have been great for rte online to stream the games free to all our gaels abroad (this should have been done years ago). Sky are here to stay. Wont be long 'til they have steamrolled rte. Anyways, its done.

[AZOffaly]

There are 31 games free to air in Ireland on RTE.

20 years ago, there was probably 4 or 5.

TV3 wasn't available in the whole island of Ireland, so a lot of our northern brethern were excluded from watching those games aleady.

RTE are retaining their number of games.

Sky are essentially replacing TV3.

I understand the argument. My Dad, and my Father in Law will both be missing out on the ex-TV3 games. However, I don't see it as the wholesale treachery that others seem to think it is. Look at Zulu's kids team in Scotland there. They'll now be able to show their friends the games on SKY, which is king of sports in the UK. It gives it street cred straight away, especially if they do it the way they do other ball sports.

All in all though, I think to be able to see 31 games free to air on live TV, RTE, is far from pensioners (or anyone else) being 'locked out' by Sky. A ridiculous line from McGee.

[StephenC]

IMO the availability of games outside of Ireland (through streaming etc) is completely separate from the PPV deal for championship games. One doesn't depend on the other in any way.

It's too late for people to be getting worked up now. I was very annoyed when TV3 got games as it was not available in many parts of Ireland (now broadly addressed with SaorView/Sat). I was very annoyed when Setanta got games as it was the first time that GAA games were PPV. The Sky PPV deal is a logical next step and sure the deal is now done.

Does anyone believe that the % of championship games that will be PPV on Sky in the years to come is going to stay the same or decrease? Of course not. This is the thin end of the wedge. How long before one of the 2 AI semi's is PPV?

[blewuporstuffed]

There are 31 games free to air in Ireland on RTE.

20 years ago, there was probably 4 or 5.

TV3 wasn't available in the whole island of Ireland, so a lot of our northern brethern were excluded from watching those games aleady.

RTE are retaining their number of games.

Sky are essentially replacing TV3.

I understand the argument. My Dad, and my Father in Law will both be missing out on the ex-TV3 games. However, I don't see it as the wholesale treachery that others seem to think it is. Look at Zulu's kids team in Scotland there. They'll now be able to show their friends the games on SKY, which is king of sports in the UK. It gives it street cred straight away, especially if they do it the way they do other ball sports.

All in all though, I think to be able to see 31 games free to air on live TV, RTE, is far from pensioners (or anyone else) being 'locked out' by Sky. A ridiculous line from McGee.

I agree 100% AZ.
If there were LESS games being shown for free on RTE, i could see the argument, but this will actually lead to an increase in TV coverage and offer an option for watching the semis & final on different channels.
Granted this wont be for everyone, but it will benefit a large number of people, home & away and increase the profile of our championships over all.

[AZOffaly]

StephenC, that's certainly a possibility. And that's up to the GAA (we are the GAA) to decide. I'm sure if a motion was brought to congress to say that Sky will never get more than X percent of games, and that All Ireland Semis and Finals will always remain free to air on terrestrial TV, it would have a chance to pass. We have 3 years now to close that stable door before the horse bolts. Get onto your club, and make sure it's on the agenda.

If this is a runner with Sky, I think they *will* try to expand their coverage, including more exclusivity. They'd be mad not to. But that doesn't mean we have to sell to them. Maybe this will make RTE up their game, and quit the Brolly shit. Get people in the studio who actually enjoy the games. Because if in 2 years time Sky have a high positivity and energy factor in their coverage, and RTE are still giving the impression they actually hate to have to sit through a game of football, then that motion I was talking about above would have a very hard time winning.

[Sidney]

Granted this wont be for everyone, but it will benefit a large number of people, home & away and increase the profile of our championships over all.

What, are Henry Shefflin and the Gooch going to be making an unexpected visit to Summer Bay as part of the deal with Channel 7?

[blewuporstuffed]

Granted this wont be for everyone, but it will benefit a large number of people, home & away and increase the profile of our championships over all.

What, are Henry Shefflin and the Gooch going to be making an unexpected visit to Summer Bay as part of the deal with Channel 7?

the allstars are going to play an exhibition game against the Riverboys

[armaghniac]

Armaghniac, either you are on the wind up or you are incredibly thick. I hope it's the former because it would be mad to think that there are actually people in Ireland who view the Irish abroad like you do.

There are several posters here who prefer to play the man rather than the ball.

My point is that the strength of the GAA is that it can bring on board the whole community and there can be a sense of involvement when a team is doing well that goes beyond the actual hard core fans as such. I think the ability of people to watch free to air TV is part of that. This is a strength of the GAA and it should play to that strength and stay on free to air TV when other sports have gone in the other direction.

This is a modest change and may well be designed to put pressure on RTÉ as anything else, it is a trade-off and may work out. But if (say) Derry or Cavan win the Ulster championship and find themselves in a quarter final against Kerry, some of the atmosphere will be lost if this quarter final is restricted in this way.

I understand the argument. My Dad, and my Father in Law will both be missing out on the ex-TV3 games. However, I don't see it as the wholesale treachery that others seem to think it is. Look at Zulu's kids team in Scotland there. They'll now be able to show their friends the games on SKY, which is king of sports in the UK. It gives it street cred straight away, especially if they do it the way they do other ball sports

My point is that while games having street cred for Zulu's kids is a nice to have, this is basically irrelevant to the future of the GAA in general, which is affected by things in Ireland.

I think the international Internet coverage (if it works)  is a great 21st century style service for ex-pats, in whatever country they are. But it would be better if this was single service with all games.

The only unknown is the BBC. Do they still get the Ulster games and does this mean that Sky will not, or will SKy have some of these? I think the BBC showing games was helpful to the GAA in NI as at least some people from non GAA areas must have watched from time to time.