The official Sky Sports GAA Thread!

Roquentin

No

davegrohl48 wrote: »

What are people's thoughts on a tv company Sky Sports being allowed access to Irish schools to promote sport. Katie Taylor and a team of athlete mentors are going around to participating schools. Plenty of moments where the kids meet their heroes etc. personally I think it's corporate pr nonsense. What next? McDonald's promoting healthy eating. Guinness promoting abstaining from alcohol.
Ireland is full of sports clubs in every town and city. Physical education is part of the school curriculum.

dont see the problem. the banks and colleges do the same thing.

wonder88

By the way Guinness are promoting abstaining from alcohol. Launch was today, former tobacco lobbyist Fergus Finlay is in charge.
Who says Irish can't do comedy
ps a pop star who was photographed falling on her backside outside a nightclub a while back is a role model for the campaign

munchkin_utd

No

A point I was making earlier was that it wasn't Sky denying anyone the rights to watch their county on TV, but rather the luck of the draw as to whether their county was on TV in the first place, even during the TV3 days (which did not cover all 32 counties BTW as TV3 only covers the republic and people in Northern ireland nearer the border, so was not universal coverage)

Martin Breheny in the Indo goes through the numbers, and shows that the unfortunate pensioner in Carlow who now has to go to the pub to watch his county needn't bother, seeing as they are never on the TV in the first place.

Sky's arrival has altered very little for majority of GAA fans
TV details for 2010-14 reveal many counties were ignored even before controversial deal

The arrival of Sky Sports as exclusive providers of coverage for 14 All-Ireland championship games has had no impact whatsoever on a great many GAA supporters.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/skys-arrival-has-altered-very-little-for-majority-of-gaa-fans-31060274.html

Another thing that I pointed out previously, which some fail to digest, is that the main income and lifeblood of the GAA is still attendances and the cash which comes with it, which dwarves the income from media rights and will remain so for the forseeable future.
County and provincial heads have made utterances before that theres too many games on TV which affects club and county games happening at the same time as a TV game.
Funny enough, this was again pointed out by the GAA director general at the Congress which is mentioned in the article

Meanwhile, GAA director-general Páraic Duffy, said that a much bigger issue centred on whether too many championship games were being shown live, as it may be having a negative impact on attendances and club activity. He believes it's an area that needs to be carefully considered ahead of the next round of TV negotiations.

The double-header deal, showing two games on most Sunday afternoons, could certainly be under threat. Instead, the GAA may opt for one game only.

Theres lots of ways this will go in a balancing of the number of free to air/ pay tv championship games, but I only see the number of games on FTA being reduced, and whether the sky deal continues or not, that seems to be coming regardless.

if sky is there to provide the extra games to a smaller audience then thats one option. The other is cut FTA games, and leave it at that with no sky deal either.
The end result ?
You could be looking at currently 31 FTA + 14 sky becoming 24 FTA games (31 less the 7 double headers) and no Sky.
So 45 games overall --> 24 , if the sky haters ultimately have their way.

At the most (FTA wise) I could see 31 FTA + 14 sky --> 31 FTA + no sky, with the 7 Sunday FTA double header slots becoming a saturday evening + 1 Sunday slot

RoyalCelt

No

So season 2 of sky sports will be starting up soon. Good addition of Jim mcguiness to the team.

Meanwhile Rte have added Henry shefflin.

Anyway Rte seem to have the vast majority of the best games this year. Will be hard for sky to ramp up interest.

Hopefully a good year and hopefully like last year they force Rte to up their game again. I see they had fun flying their new drone around ballybofey last Sunday

munchkin_utd

No

RoyalCelt wrote: »

So season 2 of sky sports will be starting up soon. Good addition of Jim mcguiness to the team.

Meanwhile Rte have added Henry shefflin.

Anyway Rte seem to have the vast majority of the best games this year. Will be hard for sky to ramp up interest.

Hopefully a good year and hopefully like last year they force Rte to up their game again. I see they had fun flying their new drone around ballybofey last Sunday

heres the list of Sky games.
Not great but they have a choice with the Qualifiers that might allow some good matches.

June 6th: Leinster SFC Kildare v Laois (SKY)
June 20th: Leinster SHC SF; Connacht SFC SF Sligo v Roscommon/London (Both SKY)
June 27th: Ulster SFC SF (SKY)
July 4th: Foot/Hurl Championship Qualifier (SKY);
July 11th: Foot/Hurl Championship Qualifier (SKY);
July 18th: Two Championship Qualifiers (Both SKY)
July 25th: Two Championship Qualifiers (Both SKY)
August 1st: Two Championship Qualifiers (Both SKY)
August 8th: Two All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Finals (Both SKY)
(and subsequently all semis and finals in hurling and football)

Connorzee

No

I wonder would Sky showing the minor/intermediate games before the senior ramp up the interest? With the amount of channels they have i'm sure they could have fit it into the schedule before the senior live game. Half time of said game and at the end would be time enough to preview the senior game. No?

munchkin_utd

No

Connorzee wrote: »

I wonder would Sky showing the minor/intermediate games before the senior ramp up the interest? With the amount of channels they have i'm sure they could have fit it into the schedule before the senior live game. Half time of said game and at the end would be time enough to preview the senior game. No?

I can't see that happen, not to mention that the minor Championship early on is detached from the Senior because of exams so they arent there to be shown, and for qualifier games there'll be no minor game on before Hand.
And thats aside from the fact that a good number of the weekends are a double header for sky.

RoyalCelt

No

Nice launch trailer from sky.

Regarding the games they've gotten, I suppose the Ulster semi could be a good one depending on which semi they get and Laois v Kildare isn't too bad either.

After next year they should push to get the rights to the Leinster and Munster Hurling and Football finals. These games are usually big affairs and happen in the complete down season on sky well before the premier season picks up again.

Now I don't mean exclusively obviously but joint broadcasting with RTE like they do for the AI finals. Would boost their portfolio nicely.

RoyalCelt

No

June 6th: Leinster SFC Kildare v Laois (SKY)

So next Sunday they start their second year with a better game then last. Here's to a feisty affair between two bitter rivals!!

munchkin_utd

No

just came across a little more detail on what games Sky will be showing in the qualifiers, essentially all provincial loosers' games in the last qualifier round before the quarter finals
Sky exclusively showing the Quarter finals between the qualifiers of the 4B games below and the Ulster and Connacht winners.

Saturday July 25th, 2015
GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship 2015 Round 4A
Provincial Final Loser (Leinster / Munster) vs. Round 3A Winner

GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship 2015 Round 4A
Provincial Final Loser (Leinster / Munster)vs.Round 3A Winner

Date TBC - Saturday August 1st/Monday August 3rd, 2015
GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship 2015 Round 4B
Provincial Final Loser (Connacht / Ulster)vs.Round 3B Winner

GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship 2015 Round 4B
Provincial Final Loser (Connacht / Ulster)vs.Round 3B Winner

RoyalCelt

No

Good debut by sky. Unlike Rte they actually analyse the match.

Rte is good when you're in the mood for light hearted banter but sky is where it's at if you want serious coverage.

Peter canavan looked average on tv3 but comes across top class on sky. I think that says it all. Good decision dumping tv3 for sky.

Alanhooly

Laois vs. Galway on Sky on the 20th. Huho. H'on Laois!

RoyalCelt

No

Alanhooly wrote: »

Laois vs. Galway on Sky on the 20th. Huho. H'on Laois!

The laois footballers have already been on sky a few times. sky must view them as the man United of the GAA!

Hopefully laois give them a run for their money. I know it isn't likely to happen but imagine a wexford vs laois final! One can dream

STB.

Undecided

I wonder how bad Sky's figures are going to be this year and how long the GAA are going to continue with this madness. Seven Australia have already dropped its coverage deal.

Paul Rouse's article on this just about sums up my feeling on this.

http://historyhub.ie/sports-rights-commercialization-revisited-sky-and-the-gaa

No doubt the same mess will prevail in the Six Nations from 2018 onwards. Will we ever learn from our mistakes ?

Dirty Dingus McGee

STB. wrote: »

I wonder how bad Sky's figures are going to be this year and how long the GAA are going to continue with this madness. Seven Australia have already dropped its coverage deal.

Paul Rouse's article on this just about sums up my feeling on this.

http://historyhub.ie/sports-rights-commercialization-revisited-sky-and-the-gaa

No doubt the same mess will prevail in the Six Nations from 2018 onwards. Will we ever learn from our mistakes ?

There were barely any matches on TV in general 20 years ago so games going to Sky it isn't the massive thing that it's made out to be.

Why should sport be free to air and numerous other types of entertainment not be free to air.If I want to watch a film I have to go to the cinema or buy the DVD, if I want to read a book I have to pay for it why should sport be any different.

The coverage of sport on subscription sports channels is almost always superior to what is on terrestrial television who see sport as an inconvenience and do a half arsed job.

If pay TV helps the sport attract more revenue which is then used to further develope it than I don't have any problems and frankly it's a good thing for the sport.

STB.

Undecided

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

There were barely any matches on TV in general 20 years ago so games going to Sky it isn't the massive thing that it's made out to be.

Why should sport be free to air and numerous other types of entertainment not be free to air.If I want to watch a film I have to go to the cinema or buy the DVD, if I want to read a book I have to pay for it why should sport be any different.

The coverage of sport on subscription sports channels is almost always superior to what is on terrestrial television who see sport as an inconvenience and do a half arsed job.

If pay TV helps the sport attract more revenue which is then used to further develope it than I don't have any problems and frankly it's a good thing for the sport.

Because it is our national game. Selling the rights to pay TV did not attract significant added revenue.

All the GAA suceeding in doing was to bury the viewing of our native games to those who could afford to watch it and deprive even the most casual observer.

Instead of hundreds of thousands watching anyone game, we now have 10,000 when behind a paywall. It was the biggest lie ever sold by the GAA.

bruschi

No

STB. wrote: »

Because it is our national game. Selling the rights to pay TV did not attract significant added revenue.

All the GAA suceeding in doing was to bury the viewing of our native games to those who could afford to watch it and deprive even the most casual observer.

Instead of hundreds of thousands watching anyone game, we now have 10,000 when behind a paywall. It was the biggest lie ever sold by the GAA.

have sky taken every game now or something? This is a disgrace to see our national game being buried.

Pretty fast

Undecided

I want to congratulate GAA HQ for making a profit today for
the tv match viewing rights they sold to Sky. In the mean time
only those who can afford to have Sky sports can view todays
4th round football matches.

dastardly00

No

Pretty fast wrote: »

I want to congratulate GAA HQ for making a profit today for
the tv match viewing rights they sold to Sky. In the mean time
only those who can afford to have Sky sports can view todays
4th round football matches.

But would they be on TV if Sky weren't showing the matches.

Pretty fast

Undecided

They always have been in the past.

agfasfos

No

Back in 2013 RTE did not show all the Football Qualifers, eg, Monaghan beat Donegal in The Ulster Final, Donegal faced Laois the following Saturday, the match wasn't televised.

DanielODonnell

Back in 2005 the round 4 qualifiers were on RTE, I know this as I was watching one of them on VHS tape the other week.

DanielODonnell

2 of them actually

threeball

Undecided

These matches would always have been on tv regardless of who had the rights.

What have Sky really brought to the table apart from subscription fees. Their coverage is atrocious. The sound quality in studio is muck, as is the presenting style. James Horan is the only half decent football analyst they have. If I have to see Canavan point the same three arrows into space and draw another box while speaking almost illedgibly I'll put my boot through the tv.
For the biggest broadcaster in this corner of the world the product they provide is pi$$ poor

Dirty Dingus McGee

threeball wrote: »

These matches would always have been on tv regardless of who had the rights.

What have Sky really brought to the table apart from subscription fees. Their coverage is atrocious. The sound quality in studio is muck, as is the presenting style. James Horan is the only half decent football analyst they have. If I have to see Canavan point the same three arrows into space and draw another box while speaking almost illedgibly I'll put my boot through the tv.
For the biggest broadcaster in this corner of the world the product they provide is pi$$ poor

And still it's miles ahead of RTE.

ArmaniJeanss

threeball wrote: »

These matches would always have been on tv regardless of who had the rights.

I'm not a huge fan of the Sky deal, but fabricating stuff about how rosy the situation was preSky serves no-one to be honest.
As recent as 2011 only one of the four Round4 qualifiers was on TV. That was the extent of the TV deal, one live game from each round of the qualifiers. Package was awarded to TV3.

Discussed here at the time with people wondering why the games aren't on.

dastardly00

No

Pretty fast wrote: »

They always have been in the past.

No, they haven't always been shown in the past.

threeball

Undecided

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

And still it's miles ahead of RTE.

Couldn't disagree more. Bad an all as Brollys bitching can be at least he has some insight into the game, same with Dessie Dolan and the production quality is pretty decent. Sky's just looks a feels cheap. If you can't even get the sound right in a studio environment what hope is there. The whole touchscreen gimmick is just that, a gimmick.
Anyone can pick out what should have been done at various times in a game with a birds eye view and retrospective 20:20 vision, its a lot harder to do when your lungs are burning and you're being pressured. Show me 4 examples of the same mistake in a game I might find it interesting. Show me one and its nit picking.
Rte do a bit of this but Sky does it ad nauseum. Rte analysts are much better at dissecting a system that a team is using that wouldn't be obvious on camera. Sky just trot out the same waffle week after week.

Dirty Dingus McGee

threeball wrote: »

Couldn't disagree more. Bad an all as Brollys bitching can be at least he has some insight into the game, same with Dessie Dolan and the production quality is pretty decent. Sky's just looks a feels cheap. If you can't even get the sound right in a studio environment what hope is there. The whole touchscreen gimmick is just that, a gimmick.
Anyone can pick out what should have been done at various times in a game with a birds eye view and retrospective 20:20 vision, its a lot harder to do when your lungs are burning and you're being pressured. Show me 4 examples of the same mistake in a game I might find it interesting. Show me one and its nit picking.
Rte do a bit of this but Sky does it ad nauseum. Rte analysts are much better at dissecting a system that a team is using that wouldn't be obvious on camera. Sky just trot out the same waffle week after week.

The sky analysts always discuss the game that was played which is something the RTE panelists often fail to do.

The main 3 RTE analysts always have pre conceived idea about teams and players and do whatever they can to back it up without acknowledging the game that has just taken place. That's the reason I almost always never watch the punditry on the live RTE games anymore.

threeball

Undecided

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I'm not a huge fan of the Sky deal, but fabricating stuff about how rosy the situation was preSky serves no-one to be honest.
As recent as 2011 only one of the four Round4 qualifiers was on TV. That was the extent of the TV deal, one live game from each round of the qualifiers. Package was awarded to TV3.

Discussed here at the time with people wondering why the games aren't on.

You've completely misrepresented what I said, read it again "regardless of who had the rights". In other words whether it was TV3, RTE, UTV, BBC these games were due to be shown in the tv rights package awarded.
Skys involvement has zero influence on these games being shown on tv.