GAA Go

munchkin_utd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123198140#Comment_123198140

It will be interesting to see the mutation of the complaints.

At the beginning it was evil sky/ paywall/ alleged prospect of all games being behind a paywall and death of the game (and not all Mayo or Cork or Donegal games are on telly which is a god given right to folks from those counties)

Then with GAAgo its feelings like wasteful RTE/ "should be free as I have a licence" / conflict of interest in game selection (and not all Mayo or Cork or Donegal games are on telly which is a god given right to folks from those counties)

I get the feeling that at the very least, even if GaaGo were in almost every other aspect doing everything perfectly, you will be left with occasional gale force whinges from Councillors/ TDs/ MEPs/ former intercounty pundits that not all Mayo or Cork or Donegal games are on telly which is a god given right to folks from those specific counties

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215142#Comment_123215142

It should be FTA as it is an armature sports organization. What I think is funny is how the same deal was given to sky and so many people backed the GAA on it, then when it moved over to GAAgo they suddenly changed their mind.

How is the promotion of GAA across the world doing since the change, particularly in the UK?

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215178#Comment_123215178

So should every game be free to attend because it's amateur?

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215198#Comment_123215198

Completely different, you attending a venue the venue has to be maintained. GAA are getting sporting rights from the broadcasters so it is paid for at that point.

Still funny to hear the pro-Sky people give out about GAAgo, still no news on how the games are developing abroad!

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215210#Comment_123215210

So just because the GAA sell certain packages to RTE and get money from them (I'm not sure how much) they should be able to then broadcast everything else Free To Air

I don't think the sums would add up on that one.

To stream games you need cameras, camera operators, OB production team, commentators.

You need to pay for electricity, data backhaul, internet hosting services, graphics, production services, fuel for the OB trucks etc etc.

That's not going to be covered by the income you got from selling a package of rights to RTE.

As for the popularity abroad I think that in time GAA Go might be one of the biggest drivers of GAA interest for second generation Irish people in the world.

I lived in the US in the 90s and early 2000s.

At the time the only way to watch GAA was in a pub on a Sunday morning, and it could cost $20 just to darken the door.

This was not the ideal venue for Irish parents to bring their US born kids to watch games, they were dark, smoky and full of lads recovering form the night before and starting the Sunday session.

As a result there were very few families watching games, and there were very few second generation Irish playing GAA.

Then came GAA GO, where a family could sit around and watch GAA on a Sunday morning in their own house. The kids could see the big games, the big stars.

In places like Australia and NZ people could watch the games the next morning rather than in the middle of the night.

I've no idea whether GAA GO has lead to an increased interest in GAA among second generation Irish, but I think in years to come it may filter through.

RoTelly

So just because the GAA sell certain packages to RTE and get money from them (I'm not sure how much) they should be able to then broadcast everything else Free To Air

GAA should only choose to work with FTA broadcaster on the Island of Ireland. They get sporting rights from them to support their organisation, which is amature in nature. (for home audiences, this does not exclude Sky)

To stream games you need cameras, camera operators, OB production team, commentators.

Advertising that's why they have bought the rights to the games. GAA have sponsors and could put sponsorship on their streaming service at a premium. RTÉ2 basically survives on sport and I imagine so to does the RTÉ Player.

That's not going to be covered by the income you got from selling a package of rights to RTE.

You sell to other broadcasters or you make the games available to advertisers on your platform and make the games free online at the very least. (On the Island of Ireland)

As for the popularity abroad I think that in time GAA Go might be one of the biggest drivers of GAA interest for second generation Irish people in the world.

Possibly is and they can generate revenue there also, if you outside you get a subscription based service, but I am not aware of any UK or US or Australian based games streaming on GAA GO or how those "international" clubs are getting on since the setting up of GAA GO and the Sky Deal, surely at this point we are able to have an All Ireland featuring Texas or California or a welsh team potentially.

I've no idea whether GAA GO has lead to an increased interest in GAA among second generation Irish, but I think in years to come it may filter through.

I think we are at a decade of this by this point. Has it worked? Who knows?

@Fr Tod Umptious

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215350#Comment_123215350

"You sell to other broadcasters"

Like who ?

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215375#Comment_123215375

Sky (yes they are FTA), TG4 and Virgin Media TV and then over to BBC NI, ITV (UTV) and/or Channel 4. But your last resort should be behind a paywall on GAA on the island of Ireland, and even on GAA+ it should be advertising based to pay for the tech stuff. and then sell the paywalled games to people abroad.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215394#Comment_123215394

TG4 and VM were offered packages. In fact everyone was offered.

You seem to have no clue how TV rights packages are bid for.

The idea Channel 4 would want it is hilarious.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215394#Comment_123215394

Why should someone who plays gaa abroad and pays fees to the gaa have to pay to watch, but someone who doesn't contribute in Ireland get to watch all games for free?

I'd much rather see all club members and season ticket holders get a significant discount.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215402#Comment_123215402

It think TG4 offered but didn't get to buy them. VMTV pretty much said no and then when off and bought league of Ireland rights.

Perhaps the games are not all that important.

As I meant to say said laterally to Channel 4, just for Irish viewers not Britain. They have a slight foot in the Irish market. Very slight all the same.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215404#Comment_123215404

Because as a tax payers we do give some funding to the GAA.

Anyway I don't really care, It is disappointing that so much sport is behind a paywall.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215420#Comment_123215420

VMTV pretty much said no and then when off and bought league of Ireland rights.

Perhaps the games are not all that important.

VMTV said that they could only take rights if someone else was responsible for the actual outside broadcast (cameras/production van etc) and VMTV would then and air them.

The GAA wanted someone who would be able to do the whole thing.

As they now have LOI rights I am assuming some other entity deal with the outside broadcast aspect and VMTV air them.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215394#Comment_123215394

Your last line is ludicrous.

A devoted GAA person abroad would have to pay to watch a match online.

Somebody in Ireland who couldn't be bothered getting off their fat ass and maybe going just two miles down the road to actually attend the match would be able to see it for free.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123216809#Comment_123216809

I'd argue that if you have left Ireland you should consider that your a minority and a niche taste so to access such content was always and is always going to be via some type of pay service.

Also I'd argue that if you are in a new country you should be trying to elevate GAA in that country, as much as you can, including getting games stream/broadcast.

The whole arguement for GAA GO and Sky Deals was that it would provide some kind of support to non-Irish clubs and give them a boost. But we've seen this not to be the case after more than a decade.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123208002#Comment_123208002

My point was RTE are in a stronger position now that means they should be able to do more than just meekly accept whatever games the GAA gives them. They should be able to insist on more Munster Hurling round-robin games than they got last year, first picks in the hurling/football quarter-finals, and some prelim-quarters in the football which they didn't have any of last year. If they don't want, for example, the Leinster Football Final then they shouldn't accept it as part of their package.

They are in a position of power as the only willing broadcast partner, and no longer having a stake in GAA Go.
It will be interesting to compare this years RTE package with last years to see if they've used that power.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123217993#Comment_123217993

The whole arguement for GAA GO and Sky Deals was that it would provide some kind of support to non-Irish clubs and give them a boost. But we've seen this not to be the case after more than a decade.

Do you have any evidence to point to this not being the case?

The Sky deal was attractive to the GAA because it put their games on the biggest broadcast platform in the UK.

I've no idea whether it increased the interest in GAA among second generation Irish and non Irish people in the UK.

But if you ever go to the Feile competitions that are on every year you will find plenty of teams from the UK there and they will have plenty of players without Irish backgrounds.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123218062#Comment_123218062

Do you have any evidence to point to this being the case. I'd argue lack of new international team in the All Ireland, any plans for a world series, and new players coming up through international clubs. That's not to say that their might be potential growth in clubs international, but I am guessing silence on that front from the GAA is proof enough.

The Sky deal was attractive to the GAA because it put their games on the biggest broadcast platform in the UK

A minority sport behind a paywall? Getting an All Ireland Final on BBC was a far better deal, even just for one match a year.

But if you ever go to the Feile competitions that are on every year you will find plenty of teams from the UK there and they will have plenty of players without Irish backgrounds.

And has that increased in the last 10 years?

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123218116#Comment_123218116

GAA is a super niche sport.

You are not going to get world series, or international games or new players coming up through international clubs.

The highest quality of the game will always be in Ireland and it will always be way ahead of anything outside Ireland.

International development for the likes of the GAA is probably about making sure that events like the Asian Games are on a firm footing, more clubs being founded in more countries etc.

All of it will still be driven by volunteers in those places and the focus on the social aspects of playing the game.

Your claim that the Sky deal was supposed to give a boost to non Irish clubs and that it has failed to do so is totally baseless because you have nothing to back any of it up with.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123218176#Comment_123218176

It what I have being saying, it is a niche sport.

You and I have no proof that Sky Deal / Network 7 / GAA Go made any difference to the international game. We just have an opinion, I can only go by what I see and the GAA's claim that it would help promotion of the game at the time.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123217993#Comment_123217993

I don't understand your logic.

On the one hand, you seek to justify why people in other countries should be the ones to pay for streamed match coverage, while people here get it for free.

On the other hand, you say people in other countries should be trying to elevate GAA there, including via streaming - surely it would be easier to do this in those other countries if the streaming there was free.

Either way, I don't think it would be hugely workable anyway to have it free in one place but not free somewhere else. Anybody with a VPN could set things up to get it for free then anyway, no matter where they really were.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123219061#Comment_123219061

I did actually think that myself.

But then the GAA's logic that it would help support GAA clubs abroad was always a bit of a PR bullshit TBH.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123219332#Comment_123219332

But was that always their logic?

You are the only one who I have heard say that.

I'm sure the GAA alluded to something like that as being some part of something but I don't ever recall it being the primary reason for selling rights to Sky over a decade ago.

Exposure to a bigger audience yes, but not primarily to support clubs abroad.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215420#Comment_123215420

Do you apply that logic to all things your tax money supports or is it just GAA that you want for free?

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123219614#Comment_123219614

You're correct it was never the primary reason.

It was put forward as a potential benefit of Sky coverage when the Sky deal was first done, but it wasn't the primary reason for doing it in the first place.

The primary reason was the reluctance by TV3 (now Virgin Media) to continue to send their own cameras & crews out to cover matches, and them insisting on somebody supplying them with a "ready to air" package instead. The very reason why Virgin Media still don't get rights for matches.

Back then, in the days before streaming, it really was the case that if Sky didn't show those matches, they wouldn't have been shown at all. Surely better to make them available somehow to at least a few people, than not let anybody see them at all.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123218116#Comment_123218116

And has that increased in the last 10 years?

Here's something for you.

28% increase in young people playing GAA in Britain in the past four years.

http://www.rte.ie/news/uk/2025/0309/1501023-gaa-in-britain/

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123246910#Comment_123246910

Well done, I wonder how much that has to do with local work over broadcast rights. Hopefully we might see a new British team compete in the All Ireland. With the sky deal ending 4 years ago!

zetecescort

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41604163.html

….

callaway92

If just Hurling is your thing, you’re paying €80 for 8 Hurling Matches. And even at that, the football offering is bad mostly.

Not great value

Uncle Pierre

I make it 32 football matches and just eight hurling.

RTE TV at least has a roughly even split - 15 football, and 17 hurling.

Krazy gang

Gaa go was a great service last year. €79 super value. Knowledgeable presenters and pundits, bubbles and Richie hogan in the hurling and the football pundits were better than the rté ones.

I'll happily pay the €79 . Even if I only watch 15 matches that's only just over € 5 a game. Much better than free games on tg4 where I have no idea what the analysts or commentators are saying.