Why don't the GAA properly show the sports abroad?

Delorian

It baffles me. I'm in NZ and ppl are bending over backwards to see games. Obviously I don't want to get anyone in trouble but one establishment showed the All Ireland Hurling Final last year and for every 2 minutes of play, there was 1 minute of buffering, i.e. it was a dodgy downloaded feed. On TV here we have American Football, American college football, ice hockey, volleyball, I'm even hoping the darts will be on somewhere. These are mainly shown through ESPN.

I know there is more of a following internationally for American sports or niche sports, but obviously there's Irish ppl everywhere and hurling in particular is a sport that I think would get a very decent following if more nationalities were exposed to it.

So why, oh why don't the GAA try and cash in by getting ESPN to show it, or Sky Sports equivalents at off-peak times?

BTW, maybe I'm missing something obvious, or it's just NZ that doesn't get it (although I remember being in several other countries where Irish bars couldn't get big games), and if that is the case, just let me know the answer and we'll close the thread.

Tomthepost

Delorian wrote: »

It baffles me. I'm in NZ and ppl are bending over backwards to see games. Obviously I don't want to get anyone in trouble but one establishment showed the All Ireland Hurling Final last year and for every 2 minutes of play, there was 1 minute of buffering, i.e. it was a dodgy downloaded feed. On TV here we have American Football, American college football, ice hockey, volleyball, I'm even hoping the darts will be on somewhere. These are mainly shown through ESPN.

I know there is more of a following internationally for American sports or niche sports, but obviously there's Irish ppl everywhere and hurling in particular is a sport that I think would get a very decent following if more nationalities were exposed to it.

So why, oh why don't the GAA try and cash in by getting ESPN to show it, or Sky Sports equivalents at off-peak times?

BTW, maybe I'm missing something obvious, or it's just NZ that doesn't get it (although I remember being in several other countries where Irish bars couldn't get big games), and if that is the case, just let me know the answer and we'll close the thread.

Setanta have the contract to show all GAA intenationally. I think you can watch any game through setanta.com. Go to their website and download feed.
A chap I know was at a wedding in Hungary a few years back and they got the feed hooked up to a big screen and were able to watch the All-Ireland final. Of course the terms and conditions will say that a download is for an individual but what do you do in this situation? 100 paddies go to hungary with 100 laptops???

howiya

In this day and age of digital tv the only obstacle to RTE/TV3 beaming their own coverage around the globe should be the setanta contract.

When this expires any international coverage should be included in the domestic deal with a commitment from both stations to broadcast their coverage internationally

Son of Stupido

Look what the AFL have done for aussie rules. They marketed a weekly sports package with highlights and info on teams etc, and were able to sell it to lots of countries.

I would have thought Asia and south America as well as Africa would be great potential markets for something different to soccer.


They need to produce a good series that introduce the teams, spots on the rules, features on towns, stadia etc, as well as a better championship (but thats a different topic!)

deisedude

How much does a subscription to Setanta.com cost or how much is it to pay per match?

spideog7

Last I heard Setanta.com aren't taking subscriptions anymore and are in talks to sell off their rights to big things like the Premiership etc. I think ESPN and FSN were trying to get in on that here in the US.

As far as the GAA goes, it's not valuable enough for any network to want to shell out for it, and it's of no value to RTE to get the international rights. As it is their online stream is ****e if the server get's busy they'd have to do a major upgrade for little or no return. God help us all if TV3 got the international rights, they'd have to dub the commentary for anyone to be able to watch it!!

Son of Stupido

The GAA need to sell the programme (not the rights) to national broadcasters, who then use it as a filler.

Thats the best way of getting a global awareness of the sport and who knows...maybe China might start getting clubs..heaven knows they have enough people over there, they cant all play soccer!

gofortheball

Delorian wrote: »

It baffles me. I'm in NZ and ppl are bending over backwards to see games. Obviously I don't want to get anyone in trouble but one establishment showed the All Ireland Hurling Final last year and for every 2 minutes of play, there was 1 minute of buffering, i.e. it was a dodgy downloaded feed. On TV here we have American Football, American college football, ice hockey, volleyball, I'm even hoping the darts will be on somewhere. These are mainly shown through ESPN.

I know there is more of a following internationally for American sports or niche sports, but obviously there's Irish ppl everywhere and hurling in particular is a sport that I think would get a very decent following if more nationalities were exposed to it.

So why, oh why don't the GAA try and cash in by getting ESPN to show it, or Sky Sports equivalents at off-peak times?

BTW, maybe I'm missing something obvious, or it's just NZ that doesn't get it (although I remember being in several other countries where Irish bars couldn't get big games), and if that is the case, just let me know the answer and we'll close the thread.

It's the age old Irish fear of sticking your neck out too far!

axer

Delorian wrote: »

It baffles me. I'm in NZ and ppl are bending over backwards to see games. Obviously I don't want to get anyone in trouble but one establishment showed the All Ireland Hurling Final last year and for every 2 minutes of play, there was 1 minute of buffering, i.e. it was a dodgy downloaded feed. On TV here we have American Football, American college football, ice hockey, volleyball, I'm even hoping the darts will be on somewhere. These are mainly shown through ESPN.

I know there is more of a following internationally for American sports or niche sports, but obviously there's Irish ppl everywhere and hurling in particular is a sport that I think would get a very decent following if more nationalities were exposed to it.

So why, oh why don't the GAA try and cash in by getting ESPN to show it, or Sky Sports equivalents at off-peak times?

BTW, maybe I'm missing something obvious, or it's just NZ that doesn't get it (although I remember being in several other countries where Irish bars couldn't get big games), and if that is the case, just let me know the answer and we'll close the thread.

Because they are cashing in and getting setanta to show it. Whats wrong with that?

Batmans dad

its not new zealand but its closer than wicklow..

http://www.setanta.com/au/

DannyD

It's ironic as RTE get paid by Sky to broadcast their channels in Ireland. However RTE won't allow a fta version across europe. It's not going to change any time soon. Use technical tricks like http://www.IrishTelevision.info to get around their policies. Might cost you a few euro but you get to see the matches live.