No Free to Air for Ryder Cup

slumped

See http://www.rte.ie/business/2006/0405/broadcast.html

Thank God Tax payers money will not be wasted on this!

S

DMC

I'm glad too, but for a different reason.

Sky got the contract for the Ryder Cup many years ago, fair and square, and it was foolish in the extreme for the government to think they could put it on RTÉ.

I don't like Sky having it, as it was one of the events the BBC covered free-to-air into the early 1990's. It was one of Sky's big poaches during that time. I'd sooner have it on BBC and RTÉ, but, contracts are binding and it was pure stupidity of the government to think that there was a way out. Their reasons were unreal, in that if they thought that having free-to-air coverage in Ireland would attract people from abroad, then they'd have to buy free-to-air coverage worldwide! Also, it would've affected Ireland's chances of getting other big one-off events like the Ryder Cup, in that rights holders would vere lucrative TV contracts away from Ireland if that happened. They got away with the FAI and the soccer internationals, but not this.

Common sense.

Carpenter

slumped wrote:

See http://www.rte.ie/business/2006/0405/broadcast.html

Thank God Tax payers money will not be wasted on this!

S

What about US the irish people that pay there tax,s and now have to pay more to watch it :mad: for some people it,s ring the bell i,m on the bus

Mossy Monk

Carpenter wrote:

What about US the irish people that pay there tax,s and now have to pay more to watch it :mad: for some people it,s ring the bell i,m on the bus

while we're at it lets put everything on the list :rolleyes: you have been having to pay more for a while now and rightfully it is going to be exclusive to Sky Sports. contracts were signed for a reason. why do people expect things like this for free

Carpenter

Mossy Monk wrote:

while we're at it lets put everything on the list :rolleyes: you have been having to pay more for a while now and rightfully it is going to be exclusive to Sky Sports. contracts were signed for a reason. why do people expect things like this for free

I have sky but what about the people that dont have the cash for it .
Now it,s off to the pub to give the big boss more cash or the people that cannot get SKY

Mossy Monk

they should ask themselves why RTÉ didnt get Irish rights when they were up for renewal

the Ryder Cup is not an event of national importance

Carpenter

Mossy Monk wrote:

they should ask themselves why RTÉ didnt get Irish rights when they were up for renewal

the Ryder Cup is not an event of national importance

What did we have that was bigger?

Mossy Monk

as in what event have we held that was bigger?

the size of the event imo is not whats important it is how many people in this country would sit down for the whole weekend and watch it and actually care about the outcome

Carpenter

Mossy Monk wrote:

as in what event have we held that was bigger?

the size of the event imo is not whats important it is how many people in this country would sit down for the whole weekend and watch it and actually care about the outcome

Any event

DMC

And therein lies the problem. While we may have more golf clubs than playgrounds in this country, it's way down the list of important sports in the national psyche.

Genuine team sports, such as soccer, rugby and gaelic ensnare more passion in people. The Ryder Cup is golf's attempt to engender a tribal effect on what is a lone playing sport. I don't think it cuts it, in that respect.

slumped

DMC wrote:

And therein lies the problem. While we may have more golf clubs than playgrounds in this country, it's way down the list of important sports in the national psyche.

Genuine team sports, such as soccer, rugby and gaelic ensnare more passion in people. The Ryder Cup is golf's attempt to engender a tribal effect on what is a lone playing sport. I don't think it cuts it, in that respect.

Hang on a second there DMC.

Golf is one of the most competitive sports in Ireland.

There are 420+ golf courses, with over 270,000 registered players. There are over 1200 golf societies.

The Bulmers Cups and Shields events are National team events , some of which are over 100 years old.

Before you make statements about golf as a sport, get the facts.

S

DMC

Someone completely misread what I wrote. We are talking about TV events and coverage, and not so much about participation.

Would you say that golf has a higher profile than gaelic football? Or hurling ? Or soccer? Or rugby? I know there are other team events in golf, but what you see week in, week out, on TV and on golf courses is head-to-head personal battles. Professional golfers rarely get the opportunity to compete in team events, so it does look artificial. Individual sports such as tennis, snooker and golf are not as huge as team sports as TV events.

For whatever reason, golf isn't that huge a draw on TV over in this part of the world. Maybe its limited availability on Sky has done this, marginalized it somewhat. Other sports have suffered from that.

Also, golf can be an expensive pursuit for some; joining clubs, equipment, gear etc, so it may come as no surprise that Sky values a premium on their golf coverage. They know that more well off people play golf, so they can get subscriptions and advertising from them.

I'm not criticising golf for being a expensive sport, its that it is not an easy sport for all to participate in. Anyone kid watching on TV a soccer or GAA match can get a pair of boots and a ball and play in their back garden. You could then go down to your local club and play along. You could get a golf club and ball and play in the back garden, but to get all the kit and be ready for a golf club takes a little more. Its a little like cricket in that respect.

What should be on the protected list, imo, is the Irish Open golf tournament. I note it has been omitted this time too.

slumped

DMC wrote:

What should be on the protected list, imo, is the Irish Open golf tournament. I note it has been omitted this time too.

I agree entirely about this event, but lets face it. If you are a mad keen golfer you are going to have Sky anyway for the golf.

S

watty

And how many days/ hours of Golf whould you get on overpriced Sky Sports for your sub per year. many Golfers I know totally uninterested in Football or Rugby.

Come to think of it if you are Rugby fan and not interested in other sports is Sky worth it compared with RTE on Aerial + S4C~digidol on FTA sat?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.