GAA doing a deal with SkySports

[Eamonnca1]

Gaa is regional/provincial sport with limited scope for development outside it's cultural boundaries,

How many more Americans in Milwaukee and Indy, US college students, US National Guard soldiers, Frenchmen in Brittany, Spaniards in Galicia, and South Africans have to take up the game before people stop coming out with unfounded and flat out incorrect statements like this?

[Syferus]

Boxing and Rugby League have went down the pan since they sold their souls to Rupert Murdoch. I fear Gaelic Games will join them.

As much as ye all love the Connacht final I don't think Roscommon playing on Sky Sports will particularly negatively effect the future of the sport.

Maybe not, but big QFs/SFs like Tyrone/Kerry, Dublin/Kerry, Mayo/Dublin etc should be enjoyed free to all of us, especially the kids. They're the future Coopers, Brogans, Murphy's. No point spending money on coaches, centres etc if the kids can't see their heroes on TV, and aspire to be like them.

Emotion can't really come into business decisions. The GAA gains a lot in its potential reach with this move. You only need to look at the growth of American football (at mad hours) to see the power television exposure has. It may seem bad for the end consumer but it has every chance of being a huge success for the GAA down the road.

Er, that's the point I was making.

And the game has and always will be available on FTA. It has never been available on a platform as big as Sky Sports before.

[PaoloRossi]

The amount of skepticism here is baffling me. Maybe I'm just being naive, but can't we look at the positives of this deal instead of being dead set against it. I look forward to the potential international exposure our games could receive as a result of this deal. So guys, give it a chance before you knock it.

[BennyHarp]

Rugby League have went down the pan since they sold their souls to Rupert Murdoch. I fear Gaelic Games will join them.

This is just nonsense, rugby league has been revitalised under Sky.

[bennydorano]

Gaa is regional/provincial sport with limited scope for development outside it's cultural boundaries,

How many more Americans in Milwaukee and Indy, US college students, US National Guard soldiers, Frenchmen in Brittany, Spaniards in Galicia, and South Africans have to take up the game before people stop coming out with unfounded and flat out incorrect statements like this?

Limited scope means limited scope. But every journey begins with a 1st step.

[Zulu]

Can someone also explain how all this increased worldwide coverage is beneficial when you factor in the reduced coverage at home for people because they haven't the money for a subscription to SKY? Does the money that the GAA gained from the SKY deal have to be spent enticing back the punters they lost because the matches weren't free to air?

Sky might be getting some games, they are not getting exclusive rights to the championship so there'll be no lost punters. There isn't any down side to this as far as I can see and is in fact the very definition of a win win for the GAA.

[ONeill]

Theme tune? I go for Blanket On The Ground.

[seafoid]

Sky is like a TV version of the Daily Mail.
Very flash, lovely colours, slick, some interesting ideas but very repetitive and aimed at DM readers.
Cricket on BBC was much more interesting.

[J OGorman]

Is there a single man on here supporting this deal with Murdochs Sky who doesn't currently have Sky subscription?

[Zulu]

I have a subscription to Sky sports and if they get some GAA matches I'll finally have a reason to watch it!

[haranguerer]

Is there a single man on here supporting this deal with Murdochs Sky who doesn't currently have Sky subscription?

Yes - it is potentially very good for the game.

Dont be surprised if theres not too many though, whos gonna vote for extra outlay?!

[thejuice]

I will support it tentatively. I don't have sky but local pub does. For me this is only worth doing if it promotes the games audiences and participation internationally. I haven't seen any detail yet.

What I really hope this will do is bring an armatuer game to the masses where people see a game largely played by ordinary people playing for the lands of their birth, for pride of place.

It can stand as a vanguard against mercenary professionalism. If it can show people that this level of sport can compete with and provide as much entertainment, if not more as professional games. That the modern professional sport model isn't the only way and if anything it might give meaning back to sports in a way that has been largely lost.

Somewhat idealistic and romantic view but it is what could be achieved in all this. That said, it could go completely the opposite way.

[J OGorman]

To me it's football provided by the people for the people. Each and every volunteer in every club. The door knockers bringing in the cash, underage coaches developing the players. These folk (you and I) should not, in my eyes, have to pay a subscription to watch 10 (if the number being bandied about is true) championship matches. 'Business' seems to be the word of the day in this thread...sounds scarily like how we often describe the soccer across the Irish sea

All this talk of promoting the games...would the championship final  (not sure what this would be called) in say London or Philadelphia in 50 years time be a goal in the new world of Team Sky GAA? Or will we promote it but only so much so we in little old Ireland still have control

[Zulu]

I couldn't disagree more. We are competing with soccer, rugby and 101 other sports and we need to be open to all options. RTE do a God awful job promoting the sports IMO and I'd have taken matches off them for Sky not TV3. Not sure why you are so dismissive of the international aspect of this, we are as much a part of the GAA as those at home.

[J OGorman]

I couldn't disagree more. We are competing with soccer, rugby and 101 other sports and we need to be open to all options. RTE do a God awful job promoting the sports IMO and I'd have taken matches off them for Sky not TV3. Not sure why you are so dismissive of the international aspect of this, we are as much a part of the GAA as those at home.

I'm all for promotion, but not at the expense of the very people who make it all happen.
I've played football in a few countries, would be very supportive of the game abroad Zulu :-)