Anyone subscribe to this? The website is fairly poor but it seems like you can't watch many games, but does have the facility to watch old All Ireland Finals which i'd be interested in.
Reality is that if those matches weren't shown online by GAA GO, then they wouldn't be shown anywhere, to anyone.
So what you're saying is if GAA GO didn't exist Cork V Clare, Cork V Limerick, and Dublin V Kilkenny wouldn't be shown on TV at all? I doubt this very much
I'm losing you here, but will try answer as best I can:
So where the 45 games airing on RTÉ prior to the TV3 deal? And how many exclusives does GAAGO get each year? I honestly don't know.
Also did RTÉ want a monopoly on the games or did the GAA want to give them that monopoly, where they ruled out of buying this package?
As for VMTV and TV3 at the time of TV3, I did ask when did they ever take an interest in the games before, same for Sky? Change of ownership from TV3 (who'd paid way too much to buy TV3) while Sky had just lost sporting rights to BT.
Also TV3/VMTV ask for a ready made output and only buying sporting rights doesn't seem to added up TBH, RTÉ spend €25m on sporting rights and another €7m on Outside broadcasts and I wouldn't have thought that TG4 is spending that much on Sport.
It was a good deal for the GAA because it potentially put them in millions of UK homes.
Far greater international visibility than they ever had.
I stand corrected on that one. TV3 did put in a bid for the package beginning 2014 all right, but GAA chose to go with Sky, for the sake of Sky's slightly larger bid and the supposed benefit of bringing the games to new audiences in the UK.
Interesting to note how you consider it was a good deal for the GAA.
Main point remains however that neither RTÉ nor TG4 sought the rights to those games at the time anyway.
TV3 didn't want to renew from 2014 onwards. Neither RTÉ nor TG4 bid for the rights to show those additional matches FTA either. That's when Sky Sports entered the fray. If the matches hadn't gone there, they wouldn't have been shown at all, to anybody.
This is not correct.
Tv3 did want to renew in 2014 but along came Sky with a better, but not that much better offer.
What swayed the GAA to Sky was that it would put GAA in millions of living rooms in the UK instantly.
What Sky liked about it is that it meant that Irish subscribers and UK subscribers from Irish backgrounds were likely to hold on to subs over the summer when soccer was not on.
It was a good deal for both Sky and the GAA.
TV3 were actually part of the problem rather than offering any solution along the lines of what you're looking for.
They showed 10 or 11 matches each year from 2008 to 2013. These were in addition to the 30 to 35 matches a year that RTÉ were already showing at the time. Then, like now, RTÉ didn't bid for the rights to show these additional matches FTA.
Sky Sports then pulled out two years ago for their own reasons, which I've previously explained. Again, neither RTÉ nor TG4 made a bid for these additional matches on top of what they'd already committed to. And it's already been well documented how Virgin Media (which TV3 had now become) said they'd only be interested if they could buy a 'ready to air' package - i.e. somebody else would supply the live feed and all they'd have to do is flick a switch to show it, same as they do when buying in a live feed from an international event. They weren't prepared to send OBUs, personnel, etc., to venues themselves.
So again, that left a situation where these additional matches wouldn't be shown at all, unless some other solution was arrived at. And that's where the current GAA GO arrangement was born.
Still the case that even if the GAA offered the rights for these additional matches to RTÉ or TG4 for free, they still couldn't force the broadcaster to go to the trouble and expense of actually covering them.
How many games were TV3 showing, how many games were RTÉ showing before TV3 got those rights?
My cousin brought the argument (of pre-1995) up on the arrival of Sky in 2014, also but I didn't get the change to argue the point.
You also have to consider that as an amateur organisation, families across the country provide their time to the GAA, therefore surely they should get the advantage of free coverage.
At the very least the GAA GO app should be selling its service on Sky, Virgin Media and across other TV providers, as Netflix does.
I don't know what tweet or article you're referring to, but yes, there are obvious issues in comparing the pre-1995 broadcasting landscape to that of today. Another issue however is that you're continuing to do the same in arguing why all GAA should be FTA.
We should instead be looking at how things operated in the years immediately leading up to 2014, when Sky Sports first started covering GAA. RTE were showing approx. 35 live games per year at the time. They're still showing approx. 35 live games per year.
So, it's not the case that Sky and GAA GO are just taking over games that were never original part of RTÉ's offering 30 years ago, as you claim. Instead, they took games that weren't part of RTÉ's offering ten years ago, and which RTÉ have never actually made a bid for. Like it or not, it really is the case that these matches wouldn't have been shown anywhere in recent years if it wasn't for GAA GO.
GAA can't force RTÉ or any broadcaster to show games FTA if the broadcaster itself doesn't want to show them FTA.
I was just reading a tweet from someone arguing for GAA GO and its coverage. The tweet went back to pre-1995 to suggest that RTÉ hadn't always broadcast the games, quoting an article from the Jornal.
There are a few issues with this argument. The cost of outdoor broadcasts (OBUs) would have been far more expensive between 1961 and 1994, RTÉ would have had to decide what games across all sports they would cover, this would largely be between GAA, Soccer, Rugby and Horse racing/showjumping. Along with buying other international rights.
From 1988 to 1995 RTÉ were a basket case, largely down to the Minister of the day (Ray Burke) who along with his predecessors didn't increase the licence fee, while also introducing a cap on advertising revenue (RTÉ were unable to earn any more from advertising revenue than they did from the licence fee).
With the labour and FF government this changed under Micheal D Higgins, he dropped the cap and he increased the licence fee (the increase to help start the foundation for TG4 which would launch in 1996).
By the mid-1990s I assume the cost of OBUs reduced, technology had moved on, while by the late 1990s RTÉ axed Sports Stadium in favour of live sports.
Increase in revenues from both the licence fee and advertising revenue, allow RTÉ cover more games across all codes. (I believe the BBC are the host broadcaster for the six nations for home games in Ireland).
So IMO this idea that Sky and GAA GO are just taking over games that were never original part of RTÉ's offering 30 years ago is a bit of a red herring IMO. It would be like comparing Sky Sports coverage of Soccer in the early 1990s to its coverage today, and saying that Discovery and BT (TNT Sports/Eurosport) need to take those games!
But even with this argument IMO GAA as an amateur sport should be FTA.
..
The BBC’s commitment is to show one final nationally on one of its linear channels. The other final, and the four semi finals, go out regionally on BBC Two NI, and can be streamed nationally on BBC iPlayer.
I suspect that the type of person who is living in GB and likely to go hunting in the 900s on Freesat or for a stream on BBC iPlayer is probably already a fan of GAA, and probably either Irish or has lived in Ireland previously. If the aim is to attract causal viewers I doubt it is accomplished that way.
The only BBC Two regions are England, Wales and NI. I think there also used to be Scotland, until Scotland got BBC Scotland. BBC One has many regional variants.
The hurling was shown this year on all BBC Two regions, but the football was only on BBC Two NI. There were two films on the other regions. But as has been stated if people in GB knew what to do they could access the NI programmes on satellite.
All BBC regions carry the finals as far as I'm aware as BBC had the rights for the entirety of the UK.
In any case the NI and all other regional feeds are available throughout the UK on the higher channel numbers on freesat and sky (and possibly other providers but I can't confirm) and iPlayer.
The GAA likely made less money by selling the final rights to the BBC but got much greater exposure out of it
Agree with what previous posters say, Sky will likely not be interested as the calendar no longer suits them
Are those games on the regular BBC across all regions or just BBC Northern Ireland?
Nah. Organisation that WANTS more revenue sees RTE pilfer round them and get rewarded with a bailout.
I'd say the BBC showing the AI finals probably did more for the game in the UK than the years Sky had games all summer
Sky’s main issue is that GAA no longer does what it was supposed to for them - keep subs active through the summer. The secondary TV partner is done by the end of June instead of the August bank holiday like was the case before the start of the Championships were brought forward.
This is a very good point.
Sky saw the GAA as a way to keep sports subs in Ireland, and those of Irish people in the UK active over the summer months.
And the GAA liked this deal because it literally put GAA in millions of living rooms in the UK.
That's all gone now with the calendar changes.
I doubt Sky will be a bidder.
"Organisation that needs money to operate sees and takes opportunity to make some money".
Oh, the shock. Oh, the horror.
Not sure how to quote just one line from a post but want to refer specifically to this line from yours: "If GAAGO didn't exist there would either be more than the 31 games on RTE or maybe another broadcaster would pick the remainder up."
You're still missing the point that GAA GO exists because neither RTE nor any other broadcaster wanted to "pick those games up" in the usual way.
I'm not about to explain it any more. None so blind, and all that…
All he did there was tell people what we already know
There are 2 RTE deals, one involving RTE through their shares in GAAGO. If GAAGO didn't exist there would either be more than the 31 games on RTE or maybe another broadcaster would pick the remainder up. There is no chance that the Limerick/Cork and Dublin/Kilkenny games would simply not be not shown as they are worth a fortune in advertising to whoever shows them. GAAGO is the only way of watching the championships abroad, there is no doubt it is already massively profitable
To use a football perspective I also doubt that 2 of the All Ireland Quarter Finals would simply not be shown.
What actually happened here is people got pi$$ed off and the politicians reacted similarly. As a lot of taxpayers money goes to the GAA the politicians reaction is a good one
Burns let the mask slip a few months back in an interview when he accepted that the GAAGo was needed as a revenue earner. That was his primary argument for it in that interview.
Exactly. No obvious change if it goes to Sky Sports. The gripes might be the same but it won't make life any more difficult for the majority of people.
The RTE deal is 31 championship games every year 2022 to 2027. They have to give four provinces football and three hurling a fair representation. Munster hurling people are looking to get priority over the rest. The GAA also own GAAGO, and they have no problem in saying that they need some high profile games on it to make money.
What has happened here is a deal with a year to run has been hijacked by politicians, reacting to media pressure. In the guise of consumer protection.
https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/we-have-to-sell-our-games-gaa-president-jarlath-burns-makes-no-apologies-for-gaago-decision/a1701693139.html
I think you are missing a bigger point that RTE own GAAGO, it's in their interest to put the bigger games behind a paywall so they can make more money off it…
If GAAGO didn't exist do you think that RTE and the GAA would allow 3 Munster Hurling games involving Cork, including Cork V Limerick, and 2 Leinster games involving Kilkenny go without being televised at all?
You're missing a key point here.
No broadcaster - not even RTE - expressed interest in buying the rights to the games that Sky previously had. From an RTE point of view, they'd already forked out for 35 matches per year. They didn't want to pay again for roughly as many more.
It was only then that the GAA GO model came into being. It was actually a direct result of RTE's unwillingness to acquire extra rights for "ordinary" free-to-air broadcast.
Therefore, to speculate that RTE would have picked up the rights if GAA GO didn't exist couldn't be further from the mark.
Unless the CCPC make what happened on their side public, I am going to say that they were put under political pressure. Which followed on from public pressure, e.g. prolonged coverage on the Liveline radio programme.
The politicians did not express any reservations about the deal until the Munster hurling fans started their bandwagon rolling because they couldn't get some games on RTE. Which was the intention of the deal all along, to keep some high profile high demand matches behind the GAAGO paywall.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41451070.html
When contacted by the Irish Examiner, the CCPC was not willing to comment on its communication with the GAA. “The CCPC has engaged with both GAA and RTÉ on the topic of GAAGO. We are unable to release the contents of our correspondence or comment further at this time,” the statement read.
Don’t mistake this for the GAA caving to public or political pressure or anything like that. It’s very easy and tempting to see it that way. But this is about one thing and one thing only: keeping the CCPC off their back. There are clear competition issues both to do with the formation of the GAAGO joint venture itself (CCPC approval based on the fact that it was to be an overseas service only and they never went back when they entered the domestic market) and over the way that GAAGO acquired this rights package (multiple parties saying publicly they were excluded from the process). And GAAGO have already said they will be bidding again.
The RTE deal stays the same until 2027, 31 championship games Free to Air. So they better make sure the Munster hurling fraternity get to see all their games on RTE. Otherwise the Taoiseach will be on their case again.
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://we.vanillicon.com/v2/e68aa2b0e039b12ade8384a2f42841c6.svg)
