Sky eye up the All Ireland championship matches?

Banjo String

An amateur sport , about to whore itself off to Rupert?

Sky Sports are believed to be at an advanced state of negotiations withCroke Park to enter the GAA market as part of an overall deal featuring a range of broadcasters.

RTE will continue as the main rights holder, but several other stations, including Sky, are also interested in getting a slice of the market.

It's understood that negotiations have taken place under which the Sky package would feature up to 10 games, including two All-Ireland quarter-finals. It's unclear whether Sky's bid is in conjunction with an other broadcaster.

Awarding Sky exclusive rights to a particular package would spark anger among the GAA public as it would leave them facing subscription charges.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/sky-in-talks-for-gaa-tv-deal-30130109.html



While I see the benefit in being able to transmit the games overseas, I don't necessarily agree with loyal fans here being forced to subscribe to sky to watch their home counties compete in the competition.

What do GAA fans think?

comongethappy

Did not Sky already try this in the past?

I thought they tried to break into the GAA broadcast market years ago but it failed.

orangesoda

if Joseph Brolly and the other clowns jump ship i would pay the fee

danniemcq

MOD

Moved from After Hours, please read the charter before posting

WesternZulu

If they don't get exclusive rights then it could be a good thing to raise the profile for the games.

In the years when there isn't a World Cup/European Championships/and the rugby season over then you'd get huge exposure.
People sitting in on a lazy Sunday with no other sports on would be certainly enticed to watch it.

However, it may be used as just a stepping stone for exclusive rights down the line and that goes against many of the ethos's of the GAA.

comongethappy

WesternZulu wrote: »

If they don't get exclusive rights then it could be a good thing to raise the profile for the games.

In the years when there isn't a World Cup/European Championships/and the rugby season over then you'd get huge exposure.
People sitting in on a lazy Sunday with no other sports on would be certainly enticed to watch it.

However, it may be used as just a stepping stone for exclusive rights down the line and that goes against many of the ethos's of the GAA.

I think if they did broadcast a game or 2 it would be broadcast to ROI & NI only.

They have the ability to split what gets broadcast to what market.
(Hence why we see Irish adds on Sky1.

iDave

Whoring to Rupert...you mean negotiating a TV deal like every other sporting governing body in the world.
Look Sky are very nervous about BT, they've taken Champion League off them, they have to share European rugby with them, BT already have a lot of first picks or PL games etc.
Sky are doing everything they can do discourage people cancelling their subscriptions.
This seems like their move to protect their Irish market share. That's Skys motivation as far as I see it.
As for GAA. Well their not dumb enough to know there will be grassroots backlash. So clearly they see the benefits outweighing all this. What are the benefits? Well revenue for a start. I'd see it similar to Croke Park rent monies. It can then be fed down to those same grassroots.
How many new dressing rooms we're built, hurleys and football bough as a result of soccer and rugby playing in CP?
Also the GAA seem keen in bringing the game to Irish expat AND new audiences. All you have to do is see that South African team that visited here recently and its obvious when Gaelic games are introduced to people the appeal of it is hard to ignore. O'Neill in the Examiner today talking of a World Cup. What better way of making this happen that putting the primary competitions on a major international broadcaster.
Sky too I'd like to think would do for GAA what they did for PL, Super League, HEC etc and that is positive punditry. No puke football, no Brolly rants, no O'Hara agendas but actually talking up the game, pointing out why its great, why you NEED to watch this, why its unmissable.

WesternZulu

iDave wrote: »

No puke football, no Brolly rants, no O'Hara agendas but actually talking up the game, pointing out why its great, why you NEED to watch this, why its unmissable.

Great point!
Criticism is great but RTE just go way overboard on football...they would find faults with even the best games and this only reinforces negative attitudes towards the game.
This is something that Sky would definitely not encourage.

iDave

WesternZulu wrote: »

Great point!
Criticism is great but RTE just go way overboard on football...they would find faults with even the best games and this only reinforces negative attitudes towards the game.
This is something that Sky would definitely not encourage.

In fairness they don't do it with hurling, I'd love to see the same positivity about football on TV as their is in hurling. Gaelic Football is my favourite sport and I'm sick of it being run into the ground. Its never been better to be a football fan. 5 champions in 6 years.
Sky will say what real football fans are thinking.

Matt_Trakker

I would support this if all matches that were played at the same time were broadcast simultaneously (hit-the-red-button job) and they showed the league matches too.

I despise listening to matches on radio and often coz of work can't make it to away league games, if I could watch them on tele I'd be more than happy to pay the subscription.

slingerz

As far as I know GAA games must be available on terrestrial television . I dont think Sky could get exclusive rights to broadcast the games in Ireland. What they may get however is the opportunity to broadcast them to the UK and further afield

lukin

slingerz wrote: »

As far as I know GAA games must be available on terrestrial television . I dont think Sky could get exclusive rights to broadcast the games in Ireland. What they may get however is the opportunity to broadcast them to the UK and further afield

The rights are no use to Sky if they can't have them exclusively. That's the whole point of buying them; so that if you want to see a certain sport you have no option but to subscribe to the channel that has exclusive rights.
If GAA games must be available on Irish terrestrial television then I don't think Sky will really be that interested.

munchkin_utd

lukin wrote: »

The rights are no use to Sky if they can't have them exclusively. That's the whole point of buying them; so that if you want to see a certain sport you have no option but to subscribe to the channel that has exclusive rights.
If GAA games must be available on Irish terrestrial television then I don't think Sky will really be that interested.

Sky have a sparse enough schedule in the summer with the break in the premier/ 1st/2nd division (and rusty gate primer divison x conference or whatever) and scottish equivalents.

EDIT: also, they dont need exclusivity for rights that currently have literally shag all value. Aparantly BBC doesnt even pay a cent for theirs!

regarding "further afield" - sky broadcast to uk and ireland.
The other 430million in the EU, or 5billion odd populatution of the world in general have NOTHING to do with sky so bringing GAA to Sky will only benefit folks in Britain (as 32 counties already have RTE directly or via the good friday agreements on RTE via Freeview in Northern Ireland)
Theres versions of sky in Germany/ Italy and down south in Aus/ NZ but they are separate companies in separate countries with their own separate rights buying priorities.

anyhow, if all that is happening is sky in the UK then its a start on somehow publising the games among the 99.98% of the world that doesnt live in the 32 counties.

munchkin_utd

slingerz wrote: »

As far as I know GAA games must be available on terrestrial television . I dont think Sky could get exclusive rights to broadcast the games in Ireland. What they may get however is the opportunity to broadcast them to the UK and further afield

no, just the finals, but its been defacto the case for championship games up till now.

there was talk during the last subscription rights negotiations that should it be on Sky Ireland it would get a position on sky one and also rumoured to have it free to air, i.e. no need for a sky subscription.

It'll be interesting to see what comes out of it because its not a necessity that the offering to the UK is the same as to Ireland.
Also, in the longer term having some games on Sky UK would mean a higher value for the subscription package via Premier Sports as the game would have a higher exposure and the right being eventually worth more without affecting what happens in the home market.

gordongekko

Im not keen on sky getting rights but in fairness they can't be any worse than tv3

deadybai

gordongekko wrote: »

Im not keen on sky getting rights but in fairness they can't be any worse than tv3

At least tv3 is free. Beside I doubt it would be better.

I love all sports with GAA on top of my list. If the rights were to go to sky then I wouldn't get the subscription. I simply cannot afford it. If I could I would have sky already to watch rugby,soccer,tennis etc.

munchkin_utd

deadybai wrote: »

At least tv3 is free. Beside I doubt it would be better.

I love all sports with GAA on top of my list. If the rights were to go to sky then I wouldn't get the subscription. I simply cannot afford it. If I could I would have sky already to watch rugby,soccer,tennis etc.

the article in the daily mail last week mentioned it being free on sky one. Whether thats free free or just no need for sports subscription I couldnt tell you.

For the cricket they had free to air coverage on Pick channel so it has been done already
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/19/sky-ashes-highlights-free-pick
Actually, pick would be good as then it'd be available on freeview too!

Dirty Dingus McGee

As long as the matches are available on Irish TV free to air then I don't have a problem with Sky showing matches.

Frankly it will be a good thing for the GAA as Sky with their endless positivity could actually teach RTE a thing or two about promoting the games (football in particular).RTE's coverage of Gaelic Football has been disgraceful for years maybe this will give them the kick up the hole they need.

Are Sky buying exclusive rights in general or just exclusive rights in the UK?

lertsnim

Even if Sky were to put a few games exclusively on pay tv that would be terrible. It wouldnt surprise me however if they took over the rights from Premier Sports for the UK.

munchkin_utd

lertsnim wrote: »

Even if Sky were to put a few games exclusively on pay tv that would be terrible. It wouldnt surprise me however if they took over the rights from Premier Sports for the UK.

indeed, thats another possibility which then would mean separate content for periods of saturday and sunday on Sky Ireland and sky UK, but they are separate channels (i.e. with separate advertising) anyhow so technically its more than doable - and sure they could just have a blank for irish customers either whilst the UK gets to see GAA.

Everyone is getting into a hissy fit over the possibility of "sky" having the rights.
But sky uk is different from sky ireland so doing a deal with sky could just as easily mean the existing subscription coverage for the championship for the Uk going from premier sports(formerly setanta uk) to sky uk .

The_Kew_Tour

Why not?

If its not going to hurt RTE viewers then I say its excellent chance to show our great games to UK and far beyond.

We dont live in 1800's anymore

nice_guy80

GAA don't rely on TV money. I doubt they'd sell out

dundalkfc10

What difference is Sky getting GAA games to Setanta getting GAA games, Both are pay per view

Pete_Cavan

I think coverage of championship matches should be preserved for terrestrial channels in Ireland but sell to the highest bidder for overseas rights. It may even be a case of Sky having exclusive rights in UK but broadcasting simultaneously with RTE/TV3 here. Exclusive rights are not the be all and end all for Sky, afterall they will be sharing Pro12 rugby coverage with terrestrial channels next year. Sure RTE would be pissed off but if they are told the options are share with Sky or exclusive rights go to the highest bidder they will quickly backdown. That would force RTE to up the quality of their coverage which would be great for viewers.

It would be very encouraging if Sky wanted to show GAA matches in the UK, it would be great exposure for the sport and would hopefully increase participation. July and August can be lean months for sports fans so Sky might actually be able to attract decent viewing figures in the UK. Sky certainly need to fill their schedules and they might see GAA as a good option which they dont have to outbid BT to get.

Edit; and the poll question and the options are just ridiculous, can we get rid of them please?

ProudDUB

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

What difference is Sky getting GAA games to Setanta getting GAA games, Both are pay per view

It's not. I have the most basic UPC package there is and I get Setanta free with it. I don't get any of the Sky stations that show live sporting events. Granted, I have to pay UPC for service, but I don't have to pay anything additional for Setanta.

Danno

Lads, yea are all missing the point...

I can see Sky and TV3 being announced as partners in this deal, especially with the arrival of the new ITV Southern Ireland station from next January.

TV3 will take care of the Irish Audience with Sky relaying the games live internationally.

It would make perfect sense as TV3 will have to cut it's ties with UTV/ITV now that they will be competing.

munchkin_utd

Danno wrote: »

Lads, yea are all missing the point...

I can see Sky and TV3 being announced as partners in this deal, especially with the arrival of the new ITV Southern Ireland station from next January.

TV3 will take care of the Irish Audience with Sky relaying the games live internationally.

It would make perfect sense as TV3 will have to cut it's ties with UTV/ITV now that they will be competing.

I love the innocent view that sky is "international"

They broadcast to the island beside Ireland and that's the limit of it

The other 150+ countries in the world covering 5 billion+ of a potential audience is nothing to do with sky.

Danno

munchkin_utd wrote: »

I love the innocent view that sky is "international"

They broadcast to the island beside Ireland and that's the limit of it

The other 150+ countries in the world covering 5 billion+ of a potential audience is nothing to do with sky.

I bring my Skybox and card to spain, plug it in, it works. Same as at home. It's international for those who want it.

munchkin_utd

Danno wrote: »

I bring my Skybox and card to spain, plug it in, it works. Same as at home. It's international for those who want it.

No it isn't and that's exactly the attitude that is hindering GAA abroad.

If the only way you can watch GAA abroad is to sneak an irish or British registered sky box, or in America pay 20 dollars at the door of a pub at ten in the morning, how will the 99.98% of the worlds population ever know what Gaelic football and hurling is.

It needs to be on normal channels on normal sports tv so non irish can see the game without going through a series of technological and logistical hoops.

I was in Dublin recently with a French lad who plays Gaelic football for the last ten years
The hurling was on the telly and that was the first time ever he saw a game on tv.
You really haven't a clue of how non existent GAA coverage is outside of the 32 counties except if you really really make extraordinary efforts to seek out the games

dundalkfc10

ProudDUB wrote: »

It's not. I have the most basic UPC package there is and I get Setanta free with it. I don't get any of the Sky stations that show live sporting events. Granted, I have to pay UPC for service, but I don't have to pay anything additional for Setanta.

So you pay UPC to get Setanta = Pay per View

If you didn't pay you wouldn't get Setanta!

deadybai

why does everyone say that rte's coverage is poor? I think they have great coverage of games and the suneay games theme tune is brilliant . I see alot of people say rte is crap for coverage. Please tell me why you thin this? what more do you want?

My only criticism is that they won't show the games from the 'weaker' counties but otherwise I think the camera quality is great and the commentary is good. The panel get criticised alot but I like them for entertainment. Its better the boring crap you get on MOTD

theoneeyedman

Why are the gaa modelling their international coverage around TV rather than internet based coverage ? With most all (bar Ireland) countries having good broadband coverage and smart/ internet TVs now the norm I'd have thought a season ticket type thing would make the Gaelic games easily accessible world wide rather than just in locations with a high expat population egeEast coast USA etc.

munchkin_utd

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Why are the gaa modelling their international coverage around TV rather than internet based coverage ? With most all (bar Ireland) countries having good broadband coverage and smart/ internet TVs now the norm I'd have thought a season ticket type thing would make the Gaelic games easily accessible world wide rather than just in locations with a high expat population egeEast coast USA etc.

I'll answer that question with a question.

How will someone who never has heard of GAA, ever see a Gaelic football or hurling game if it's always hidden behind a subscription internet service?
And if they have never heard or seen the game, how will such a person ever come to play the game or seek out a club locally to them.?

lertsnim

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

So you pay UPC to get Setanta = Pay per View

If you didn't pay you wouldn't get Setanta!

Pay per view is one off events such as boxing on Sky Box Office. Sky Sports and Setanta are simply pay tv.

munchkin_utd

lertsnim wrote: »

Pay per view is one off events such as boxing on Sky Box Office. Sky Sports and Setanta are simply pay tv.

I'd point out that outside of urban areas like Dublin cork and Galway, UPC isn't available so setanta isn't "free" regardless of how you want to define it.

munchkin_utd

this details of this thing seems to be getting more concrete and more of a reality than just rumours.
The irish times seems to have more details than were made public before.

GAA to announce broadcasting deal with Sky Sports
The GAA are expected to announce shortly – maybe as early as next week – details of the latest three-year broadcasting rights agreement. It is expected to be commercially successful, with the inclusion for the first time of exclusive championship coverage for a subscription channel, Sky Sports, but there may well be another major sales job required to sell the idea to a public that has been accustomed to viewing summer matches on free-to-air.
Whereas RTÉ will hold on roughly to their share of matches – under the expiring deal, 31 out of 40 – the losers are expected to be TV3, the terrestrial channel, which for the first time broke RTÉ’s monopoly on championship matches in the agreement of six years ago.

Six packages
Although the total offer of matches, spread across six packages, has gone up from 40 to 45, Sky’s share, believed to be packages five and six, amounts to 14.
RTÉ’s packages are expected to include the bulk of the fixtures and retain the premium matches, such as All-Ireland semi-finals and finals. They will, however, no longer be exclusive, as Sky are also believed to have also acquired non-exclusive rights to show them.
<snip>
Ten years ago the association first went down the route of striking an agreement with subscription channels when selling the rights to Saturday night floodlit league matches to Setanta Sports.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaa-to-announce-broadcasting-deal-with-sky-sports-1.1740874
Not sure what to make of it. Was expecting more of a free to air element even if it was to be games exclusive to the sky platform/ channels.
On the other hand, if they have non exclusive rights it means that they can show pretty much the entire championship to the UK audience on regular (abeit indeed subscription) mainstream sports TV which can only be a plus (in the longer term) for the grass roots GAA in Britain to have their games go "mainstream" .

EDIT: And there'll be less TV3 coverage which will please some!

channelsurfer2

No tv3 coverage if the article is right.

WesternZulu

deadybai wrote: »

why does everyone say that rte's coverage is poor? I think they have great coverage of games and the suneay games theme tune is brilliant . I see alot of people say rte is crap for coverage. Please tell me why you thin this? what more do you want?

Their coverage is very poor, especially in football!
They seem to be panto characters more than analysts who cannot say a good word about football if it killed them.

A pack of auld lads who look back on their own era with more than a tinge of rose tinted glasses, failing to see that in every way gaelic football has improved since then.
To make it worse, hurling is almost exempt from criticism no-matter how bad a game is...there is no consistency!

Actually, in a way I don't blame the GAA, can RTE not stump up the money?
They're subsided by the tax payer and should be making something like this a priority!!

ultrapercy

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Why not?

If its not going to hurt RTE viewers then I say its excellent chance to show our great games to UK and far beyond.

We dont live in 1800's anymore

But there are so few great games it would hardly be worth while. Half the counties are crap at football and 2/3 are crap at hurling or cant play it at all. Gaelic games are fantastic at the very highest level, below that level they are poor at best. With all the talk of the money London(rightly) received this week the GAA should now investigate the reasons behind why the most popular, most resourced and most funded sport in the country is so poor in most of it.

WesternZulu

ultrapercy wrote: »

Gaelic games are fantastic at the very highest level, below that level they are poor at best.

Every sport is like that.

I am a huge soccer fan as well and the majority of premiership games are dire to watch, as are most internationals.
The 6 nations is good but any time I have watched the Rabo it is woeful.

Gaelic games are not unique in that regard.

BKWDR

I watched the 2012 AI semi final in Boston in a 'irish club' and someone said they had to pay in excess of 10,000$ for the permission to stream the games there. And it definitely wasn't a stream online job as the adverts were different

Prop Joe

If championship is put beyond a pay wall trouble will arise,I have no problem with SKY but not exclusive rights

irishfeen

Oh the GAA really are throwing caution to the wind here - there is already bubbling anger among the grassroot members. Local radio is already freaking out and if this is officially announced it's going to be a PR disaster for the organisations hiarchey.... and the worst thing is for the GAA is that it will mainly be the grassroot going crazy - the life and soul of what the GAA is about.

lertsnim

munchkin_utd wrote: »

I'd point out that outside of urban areas like Dublin cork and Galway, UPC isn't available so setanta isn't "free" regardless of how you want to define it.

I never said it was free???? I clearly said it is pay tv

Fr Tod Umptious

munchkin_utd wrote: »

I'll answer that question with a question.

How will someone who never has heard of GAA, ever see a Gaelic football or hurling game if it's always hidden behind a subscription internet service?
And if they have never heard or seen the game, how will such a person ever come to play the game or seek out a club locally to them.?

I think a high quality, value of money internet streaming service is the way to go, especially in the North American market.

Here is why
The GAA in North America is very reliant on Irish born people to play and run it. There is relatively little involvement from second and subsequent generation Irish Americans
The children of Irish parents either do not get interested or at some stage loose interest in GAA, while their parents remain interested.
I think it’s a lot to do with their lack of exposure to championship GAA from Ireland.
When you are 25 it’s fine to go down to the pub, pay $20 and watch a game. But as you grow up, and have a family, that is not as easy to do. If the only place to watch GAA is in a pub for $20 a head, they whole family are not going to be watching.
Now if you had a internet service you could watch, and re-watch, games from the comfort of your home on a Sunday morning, and so could the whole family.
And if the kids grow up watching it each week they may remain interested for longer.
Obviously a TV service would deliver the same service, but the internet service is better because it’s on demand, mobile, and available everywhere, there is no guarantee that your local cable company will carry the station that’s carrying GAA.
I don’t think there is much value trying to pitch it to the general American public. US sports coverage is dominated by football, baseball, basketball and hockey.
English and European soccer is making some in-roads there thanks to an NBC deal, but it’s minuscule compared to the TV and radio minutes, and column inches devoted to the top 4 sports.
GAA would just get lost like other sports such as rugby, filed hockey, cricket etc.
So the target market should be the Irish born and next generation Irish Americans, which in itself is huge compared to anything in Ireland

munchkin_utd

lertsnim wrote: »

I never said it was free???? I clearly said it is pay tv

indeed, but someone else did:

ProudDUB wrote: »

It's not. I have the most basic UPC package there is and I get Setanta free with it. I don't get any of the Sky stations that show live sporting events. Granted, I have to pay UPC for service, but I don't have to pay anything additional for Setanta.

keeponhurling

Exactly, if they can market the overseas availability properly there's no need for people in Ireland to have to pay to watch GAA.
FFS, the TV licence fee is sizeable enough.

munchkin_utd

keeponhurling wrote: »

Exactly, if they can market the overseas availability properly there's no need for people in Ireland to have to pay to watch GAA.
FFS, the TV licence fee is sizeable enough.

the "market" abroad is non existant and the income for the rights is so small that it doesnt even appear on the accounts.
Sure BBC even gets the coverage for free for northern ireland.
So to think theres a cash cow out there that can be milked is just wrong and until there is an awareness and a following created for watching GAA games outside of Ireland it'll remain worthless.

jester77

This could work out ideally for those of us abroad in the EU. Up until now the only option was to bring over a sky box or pay Setanta (who have the EU broadcasting rights) to stream the games. Setanta isn't cheap and the streaming quality is very poor and in some cases unwatchable, especially for the hurling. I just gave up on Setanta 2 years ago,if they had a HD stream it would have been ok.

With Astra recently moving onto a tighter UK focused beam that ruled out the Sky box option as RTE broadcast on UK spot beam. But if Sky get the rights then I would imagine it will be broadcast on the Sky Sports which is on the EU beam meaning it will be possible to watch it across the EU.

mikeym

At least the matches will be in HD because Tv3 dont seem to have the funds to broadcast HD content.

And theres more money for the GAA which is great.

munchkin_utd

jester77 wrote: »

This could work out ideally for those of us abroad in the EU. Up until now the only option was to bring over a sky box or pay Setanta (who have the EU broadcasting rights) to stream the games. Setanta isn't cheap and the streaming quality is very poor and in some cases unwatchable, especially for the hurling. I just gave up on Setanta 2 years ago,if they had a HD stream it would have been ok.

With Astra recently moving onto a tighter UK focused beam that ruled out the Sky box option as RTE broadcast on UK spot beam. But if Sky get the rights then I would imagine it will be broadcast on the Sky Sports which is on the EU beam meaning it will be possible to watch it across the EU.

it makes it possible but still only to those who have an address in Ireland which they registered a box to, and by definition then really not promoting the game or increasing awareness beyond those who happened upon the sports by being born in Ireland or like these US soldiers seeing it randomly in a departures lounge in shannon on the way back from Iraq leading to them taking up the game , which really is about the only way a random foreigner will ever know that GAA sports exist, let alone actually know what they are about, let alone even think about taking up the sport.

EDIT: and for the rights abroad to be worth anything (which even for northern Ireland are given away for free) it needs to get on normal telly in normal homes of normal folks with no connection to Ireland/ GAA whether through family or enlightened moments on the way back from Iraq at shannon airport