GAA doing a deal with SkySports

[AZOffaly]

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.

That's a very narrow view of the future. Other people would have an opinion that the future of the GAA can include foreign, indigenous teams playing the games, enjoying the games and being successful in the games.

If the future is as you seem to think, then you are correct, there's no point showing it to kids in the UK. f**k them. However, I happen to think the more people around the world that enjoy our games, the better.

[thewobbler]

Right,

I'll tilt this one on its head, for those people who are doomsdaying the televised future of our sport.

Yes, if things work out for Sky, of course they're going to want more games. But if things are working out for Sky, this can ONLY be because things are also working out for the GAA i.e. our games have an increased profile, an increased marketability.

Why on earth then would we stop them having this mooted "bigger piece of the pie"?

There is absolutely zero chance of the GAA reducing their free-to-air coverage. GAA and RTE need each other. The GAA needs a direct line to market and entertain the largest possible audience, and the RTE needs the ability to generate mass viewing figures for a relatively straightforward and manageable expense.

And that's before politicians get involved; which they would, if they had to. But they won't have to.


So, for people who have a problem with Sky, Which of these situations is more preferable?

1. RTE continue to show 31 games a year forever, but we limit SKY to a maximum market share, thereby limiting live Championship matches to say 45 per year.

2. RTE continue to show 31 games a year forever, but SKY are allowed to pick up all or any other games, thereby meaning we could end up with 60+ televised games a year, and have our very own "GAA Super Sundays".

There is no option 3. The only way to fit more sports coverage into networks on a Saturday and Sunday is to have a dedicated sports channel. Which isn't going to happen on free-to-air in our lifetimes.


Yes with option 2, we have to pay for the privilege of these extra games. But surely to God it's better to be able to pay for something you want, than not have the option at all.



- - -


(By the way, almost 10 years on I'm still waiting for the predicted demise of Gaelic Games as a result of amending rule 42)

[Eamonnca1]

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

Here's a more accurate picture:

Irish living abroad - winners
Foreigners - winners
Those in Australia - winners
Anyone living in Ireland who wants to see a certain 31 games - winners
Anyone living in Ireland with a subscription - Winners
Anyone living in Ireland with a friend who has a subscription - Winners
Anyone living in Ireland who wants to see a certain 9 games games (many of which didn't even exist a few years ago), don't have a subscription and are too lazy/unable to get to the actual match  - losers

Those selling lotto, national draw tix, stewarding at club games should not have to pay above the TV license to watch their games.

Unless of course they happen to live outside of Ireland in which case they should be ripped off by the likes of Setanta for a third rate viewing experience with no option of going to the match.

Sorry, but the day when people in Ireland have to get on a plane and take a five hour flight to play a match will be the day when I listen to sad stories about how hard yiz work to keep the games going and how that gives you an entitlement to see the game without having to get off your armchair or pay anything for it. We put in plenty of work out here against the odds and we're every bit as much a part of the GAA as you are.

[johnneycool]

Right,

I'll tilt this one on its head, for those people who are doomsdaying the televised future of our sport.

Yes, if things work out for Sky, of course they're going to want more games. But if things are working out for Sky, this can ONLY be because things are also working out for the GAA i.e. our games have an increased profile, an increased marketability.

Why on earth then would we stop them having this mooted "bigger piece of the pie"?

There is absolutely zero chance of the GAA reducing their free-to-air coverage. GAA and RTE need each other. The GAA needs a direct line to market and entertain the largest possible audience, and the RTE needs the ability to generate mass viewing figures for a relatively straightforward and manageable expense.

And that's before politicians get involved; which they would, if they had to. But they won't have to.


So, for people who have a problem with Sky, Which of these situations is more preferable?

1. RTE continue to show 31 games a year forever, but we limit SKY to a maximum market share, thereby limiting live Championship matches to say 45 per year.

2. RTE continue to show 31 games a year forever, but SKY are allowed to pick up all or any other games, thereby meaning we could end up with 60+ televised games a year, and have our very own "GAA Super Sundays".

There is no option 3. The only way to fit more sports coverage into networks on a Saturday and Sunday is to have a dedicated sports channel. Which isn't going to happen on free-to-air in our lifetimes.


Yes with option 2, we have to pay for the privilege of these extra games. But surely to God it's better to be able to pay for something you want, than not have the option at all.



- - -


(By the way, almost 10 years on I'm still waiting for the predicted demise of Gaelic Games as a result of amending rule 42)

If I was already tooled up with a Sky system and subscribing to Sky sports then this is brilliant news, but I'm not, so the decision I have to make is do I cough up the monthly subscription and get Sky in for just these 11 games, depends on the games though, if it was a Munster or Leinster hurling final, I'd be tempted, Monaghan and Meath in a qualifier, not so!.

Have we any idea of what these 11 games will consist of?


So, these dreamboxes, what are they all about then?

[southdown]

Dream boxes are the way forward.

[Sidney]

2. RTE continue to show 31 games a year forever, but SKY are allowed to pick up all or any other games, thereby meaning we could end up with 60+ televised games a year, and have our very own "GAA Super Sundays".

Three years ago the GAA reduced the number of live championship matches allowed to be shown. To me this was a clear retrograde step, but I don't recall much of an outcry over it.

RTE have been lazy in their coverage. I couldn't get to the drawn Dublin-Kilkenny hurling match in Portlaoise last year. The game was not om the television. RTE completely neglected the game on radio. I couldn't pick up a KCLR stream, and Dublin City FM didn't have it. So while Dublin were on the verge of beating the All-Ireland champions for the first time in 70 years, DubMatchTracker was the only way I could keep updated. So much for "the right to hear (never mind see) your county playing".

Last week, Brian Carthy commentated away on the Tipperary-Dublin league match as if it was a challenge match, and didn't bother his hole to inform listeners what Tipperary needed to do in order to qualify ahead of Dublin, leaving the listener to frantically look at the league table themselves and do the maths. Could you imagine Sky doing that?

[Hereiam]

Here is my problem with the GAA right now
In my own county we have a new state of the art centre of excellence and its a great place. With the recent weather our pitch was not fit to be used so we used this centre for a few weeks.
I pay my club membership and contribute as much as I can to the club but we were asked to pay towards the use of this centre which I think is not right. With the money the GAA is taking in surly members should be able to use these places without paying.

[seafoid]

2. RTE continue to show 31 games a year forever, but SKY are allowed to pick up all or any other games, thereby meaning we could end up with 60+ televised games a year, and have our very own "GAA Super Sundays".

Three years ago the GAA reduced the number of live championship matches allowed to be shown. To me this was a clear retrograde step, but I don't recall much of an outcry over it.

RTE have been lazy in their coverage. I couldn't get to the drawn Dublin-Kilkenny hurling match in Portlaoise last year. The game was not om the television. RTE completely neglected the game on radio. I couldn't pick up a KCLR stream, and Dublin City FM didn't have it. So while Dublin were on the verge of beating the All-Ireland champions for the first time in 70 years, DubMatchTracker was the only way I could keep updated. So much for "the right to hear (never mind see) your county playing".

Last week, Brian Carthy commentated away on the Tipperary-Dublin league match as if it was a challenge match, and didn't bother his hole to inform listeners what Tipperary needed to do in order to qualify ahead of Dublin, leaving the listener to frantically look at the league table themselves and do the maths. Could you imagine Sky doing that?

It will be fascinating to see what sort of personality Sky pick to compete with Brian Carthy. Will they go for someone similar or someone with a bigger youth appeal who is not from Roscommon? Will it flop, will they go back to a BC type, because that is what the punters want ?
Or will the exclusion of the non sky watching punters mean that the lure of a BC type is reduced anyway?

The RTE crowd are smarter than people give them credit for


PAUL BYRNES (Programme Editor since 2004):
"Pat was someone who'd done a fair bit of radio; he'd appeared on other shows apart from The Sunday Game and he was keen to try something new. We said we'd give him a chance. I always felt that the least someone deserved was a chance.

ML: "It was just a matter of practicality that I would stop doing it. The fact that it was Pat who took over took me by surprise. I didn't know that they were thinking that way. I felt that Pat was our man as a panellist and that by taking him out of that seat, you were taking away his strength. I felt it was the wrong call."

[yellowcard]

Haven't read through this thread at all so apologies if its already posted but can someone confirm the following:

1) What is the deal worth financially in terms of revenue from Sky?
2) Where specifically will the money be filtered down to?

I don't have a problem with the deal if it can be shown that there is a significant additional income stream accruing from the deal and provided that the money is filtered back into clubs and grassroots. As with all things GAA sometimes change can be viewed with a certain amount of scepticism until people get used to the idea. I think this deal could be positive provided the money is directed into proper areas. 

[BenDover]

I've a question on this Sky deal - Does anyone know what happens with RTE games that do not feature Ulster sides (as they won't be on the BBC). Will they be available to us or will they be blocked by Virgin/Sky if you have only the Virgin/Sky feed to view the free to air channels?

[BennyHarp]

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.

Im not playing the man, I am responding to an incredibly ignorant view of those who develop the game in communities abroad and the ridiculous links you are making between those abroad having access to watching the games and the more deserving hard core fans at home being left abandoned. You live in Ireland and have the opportunity to attend every game that is potentially on TV - those abroad do not. You do not have a given right to watch that game free on TV, by that logic it you should have free entry to every game - why should you pay anything? How did you cope before these games where on TV - did you sit and moan in your living room about not seeing them? Does everyone in Armagh have a right to see every Armagh championship game from the comfort of their own arm chair?

Also, how does the game being on Sky TV impact on the atmosphere at a Derry/Cavan v Kerry championship game? Maybe more will actually make the effort to go?

[Keyser soze]

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.

I'm sure the vast majority of fans are well fit to and able to attend the games. If not they can make a choice if sky is worth it for 9 games. If not they can go to a friends house who has sky or down to the local pub. Failing that they can listen to it on the radio and watch highlights on rte. Not all championship games are currently live and I don't see any uproar over that and people cope.

I see sky will be doing a midweek highlights show. This could be good if they put a bit of effort into it. Currently there's too much crap talking on rte and not enough coverage of games not live on tv, would be great if this was a decent highlights show.

Sure it wasn't so long ago when the only "coverage" was on the wireless.  In my dad's day he had to tr**p over a mile to someone's house where there was a radio. Some fierce sense of entitlement soon sinks in, people demanding the "right" to view games on their armchairs for nothing.

Well  isn't that exactly what you've been doing through god knows how many interminably boring posts, crying about your right to see matches as cheaply and conveniently as you can. 

[Stall the Bailer]

Would there be anyone who would watch all the games on TV?
With club games and other commitments, I would be doing well to catch half of them on TV.

[StephenC]

AFAIK there is no money to be filtered down to the clubs from this. According to O'Neill on the radio yesterday, it's essentially revenue neutral with the cost of providing the streaming and the loss of TV3 money cancelling out the Sky payment.

[thewobbler]

Here is my problem with the GAA right now
In my own county we have a new state of the art centre of excellence and its a great place. With the recent weather our pitch was not fit to be used so we used this centre for a few weeks.
I pay my club membership and contribute as much as I can to the club but we were asked to pay towards the use of this centre which I think is not right. With the money the GAA is taking in surly members should be able to use these places without paying.

I suppose the GAA should pay for transport for all club players to these facilities too? And sure why not have full time coaches on hand to give free lessons? Anyone gets a knock - sure lay on round the clock free physios too. Let's put a lucozade sport drinks machine in the foyer... and not charge anyone for the drinks. Anything else?


I truly do despair at the mindset of some Gaels.