The GAA Rat Race

[Ohtoohtobe]

GAAGo's aim is not to broaden participation, that's about accommodating demand from existing GAA fans. It's the Sky and Channel 7 parts that reach the new audiences.

Come off it. Giving rights to Sky is about money, not increasing participation. As for Channel 7, I live in Australia and there's delayed coverage of the vast majority of games on an obscure digital channel. Hardcore fans want to watch it live and even if they didn't, waiting for Channel 7 means being up an extra hour with most people working the next morning. Now call me cynical, but I'm not convinced it isn't delayed by design, to encourage people to pay for GAA Go (which has hiked its prices for the coming season, by the way). Unfortunately most journalists are just a conduit for the spin from Croke Park without checking the exact circumstances of this much-trumpeted "free-to-air in Australia" initiative.

[rrhf]

Pre the crash a lot of top players got jobs "in the bank". Eg Shefflin. But that model must be dead now with all the cutbacks and the committment of players if anything has intensified.  So helping them with careers beyond buying a pub or opening a sports shop should be encouraged. Not everyone will need help but a certain number will.

No problem with that at all. I'm not saying the work the GPA put into helping lads with careers, interviews etc is bad, in fact my father is playing a similar role at this stage for a county team. I also support any initiatives they have to help players with health, mental or otherwise. But building an institute for this seems yet another 'project' which may not be actually required, and will put pressure on the GAA to maintain or increase revenue streams, which in turn is, I believe, influencing decisions made with regards to our games.

Agree 100%

I agree entirely with you on this . You seem to have your hand on the pulse on quite a few things.

an institute.. that's what we need a f**king institute. For a group that seems to spend it's money on consultancy reports a 10 million library is critical. Sepp blatter might get a retirement job in this institute