Sky Sports GAA deal could change the sport forever

Will Sky make, or break the GAA?

It could be wonderful or it could be catastrophic for the GAA as so many people know it, but one thing is for certain – it is controversial.

Yes, the GAA – an organisation founded on an ethos of social and cultural development through sport – has sold its soul to Sky Sports.

The soul selling has come in the form of exclusive island of Ireland rights to 14 championship games along with joint live coverage of the All-Ireland Hurling and Football semi-finals.

The deal is worth between a reported €1.5m and €2m in total, according to the Irish Independent

Is it the end of Gaelic Games as we know them? That much is too early to know, or comment on but it hasn’t stopped some.

The GAA’s new motto: Pay per view but not pay for play

Joe Brolly, Twitter

 

On the negative the reason Sky are interested is for one reason. Keith Higgins Bernard Brogan Colm Copper…. I.e. The players!!

Who are so called Amateurs….and it’s more money to the Gaa Coffers…will this filter to the players. ..I don’t think so…

Aidan O’Shea, Twitter

Sky Sports, for all their faults – huge subscription fees for the ordinary joe being one – will undoubtedly bring top class coverage to the sport.

It could be a joy to watch and a real excitement boost for the GAA and those just beginning to learn about the Games.

However, the obvious worry is that the championship will become another Premiership and in turn lose touch with reality and the community ethos the GAA is supposed to revere.

The deal is a landmark for the GAA as an association

There are good points and benefits from the deal, but they come with huge risks and dark clouds accompanying them.

The money for the GAA is good, but only if it is used accordingly.

There are some out there blindly preaching that Sky Sports’ involvement and the money they bring is superb for all involved. No. It is good for the GAA as an organisation, how they then use that money will determine whether it is good for us all.

As mentioned, this point must be allowed to play out before a true decision can be made on the good or bad, but are we supposed to believe the suits in Croke Park really don’t want a slice of the Sky Sports’ monetary pie?

The wider coverage aspect bandied about by GAA President Liam O’Neill is another red herring.

“Making our games more widely available to Irish people abroad was a critical factor in our approach to these negotiations.

“We are also glad that this brings the quality and excitement of our games to a wider international audience.”

Liam O’Neill, BBC Sport NI

Could some deal not have been brokered to see that the RTE Player become Worldwide, or at least to encompass the UK and Island of Ireland for GAA?

Brolly is unimpressed at the deal currently

The Sky Sports’ deal isn’t exactly a big bundle of joy for exiles living in America, Australia and further flung places.

The UK is BskyB’s target market, and those living in the UK would have been just as happy to watch Kerry, Cork, Dublin or Derry on the internet for free (via the RTE Player) as they would having to fork out for the glitz and glamour (if that’s what you call it) of pay-per-view TV.

A final bittersweet thought, and the real crux of the case concerning the future of the game as it is, is what the undoubtedly more glamorous coverage might do for the players.

The over-analysis currently scything its way through Sky Sports’ soccer coverage for the past few years has produced so many “what if” nonsensical arguments that many of the games played became caricatures of themselves.

Soccer players in England’s Premier League now have an over-bearing sense of importance in the world, despite the fact that they are only players playing a game in one country.

It’s not hard to guess who helped spawn that belief.

The GAA doesn’t need this, but one thing is clear – Sky Sports won’t be afraid to push the hierarchy. They’ve been controlling the Premier League in England for a good decade now.

This deal could become the biggest revolution of Gaelic Games the GAA has ever faced. Brace yourselves.

 

RTE’s decision to screen Dublin v Laois is a capital decision

RTE‘s decision to choose Dublin v Laois over Donegal v Kerry this weekend made the mind boggle, but perhaps it’s not as surprising as it looked on the face of things.

Ulster champions Donegal will feature on TV3 today, something which surprised many within the GAA.

The ‘national’ broadcaster has a notorious history of operating within the pale and the decision this week to choose the Dublin game highlighted that feeling again.

As they have the first choice of television rights RTE chose the Dublin Laois game on Saturday evening, considering it to be the biggest game of the weekend.

Dublin are All Ireland champions and deserve exposure, but the Kerry and Donegal game was the one most would have considered the plum tie of the round; a game involving last year’s semi-finalist and runner up.

Dublin overcame a tenacious challenge from Laois last night, winning in Croke Park on a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-12 but many followers in the country believe the big game is today at 4pm and TV3 will be delighted to have secured it.

Despite last night’s game being tight, if you had viewed it on paper when the games were chosen it was a no-brainer which was the tie of the round.

Bosses within TV3 and Croke Park were said to be astonished at RTE’s decision to shun the game involving two of the best four teams in the country last season.

However, RTE have become increasingly ‘Dublinized’ in recent years and if there was less coverage outside the capital before there is even less now.

It is no surprise that the county of Donegal are on the receiving end of discrimination; this is blatantly what it is. Donegal is known as the forgotten county for good reason.

Lain adrift of the Republic, far north, Donegal has had to contend with the recession by itself, with those inside the capital seeing it as a lost land, beyond hope, whilst Northern Ireland are reluctant to offer people from ‘another country’ too much financial help.

RTE’s decision not to screen the clash reeks of Dublin politics and it is clear to see that if travelling too far north is on the agenda to cover a sports event it is out of the question, just ask Derry City.

This year RTE announced they would be showing more Airtricity League fixtures than ever before, but something which soured even the most passive followers of the league was the fact that from the first four games the capital was supremely represented.

Dublin club Shamrock Rovers featured in four of the first five games, something which bordered on RTE becoming that club’s official channel almost; from the other games Bohemians featured twice as did St.Patrick’s Athletic – both capital clubs.

The self proclaimed patron saint of Irish football broadcasting had a chance to display the league from top to bottom, for better for worse. But it didn’t happen.

RTE had the chance to show ten of the twelve clubs involved in the national soccer league, yet what we did get was five games involving five teams, Dublin clubs featured eight times out of the ten possible clubs who could have featured in live games.

It was a sad indictment for the league of Ireland, even more so when you consider last season’s second and third placed teams didn’t feature in those fixtures at all. Any coincidence that Sligo Rovers and Derry City might be a bit too far north for Radio Telefis Dublin?

The national broadcaster has an unhealthy affiliation with the capital when it comes to sport and perhaps choosing Dublin’s game over Kerry and Donegal’s is yet another indicator that it is a capital broadcaster, not a national one.

RTE’s obsession with the capital is becoming detrimental to their status as national broadcaster.

But, for RTE’s apparent bad decision-making there are winners to come out of this. For the first time in a long time it seems as if TV3 have the biggest matches in the GAA year so far, and both on the same day.

TV3 will be hoping RTE’s short-sighted approach will gain them good viewing figures this afternoon with the currently ongoing Cork and Kildare game to be followed by the attractive north v south clash between the Kingdom and the Tir Conaill men.

RTE’s obsession with all things Dublin could come back to haunt them in the future, but for now the Irish broadcasting giant seems content to get away with some ludicrous decisions involving sporting teams outside the capital.

On the other side of the coin TV3 will bask in the glory of having what most people consider the two better quarter finals today. They will be hoping to use today as a springboard to show the GAA they are capable of producing consistent and quality coverage on the big days.

TV3 could pose RTE a huge threat to the monopoly they hold on GAA in the current climate; successful figures and a cleanly presented broadcast could offer TV3 huge clout in the future for choosing games. Today is their chance and the eyes of a nation will be on them.

 

 

Related articles

• TG4 And RnaG – Time For A Single Irish Public Broadcasting Service (ansionnachfionn.com)
• RTE makes €17 million loss, expresses radio concerns (newstalk.ie)
• Harsh budget cuts mean many familiar RTE faces won’t have contracts retained (independent.ie)
• Dublin to headline Saturday feast of football in Croke Park (irishcentral.com)
• Kerry to meet Donegal in All-Ireland quarters as Dublin draw Laois (irishcentral.com)