Sky eye up the All Ireland championship matches?

allthedoyles

People on here are complaining about TV3 dismal coverage .

Its not very fair , when you havent even seen yet what Sky will bring .

Has anyone on here ever watched Fox Sports in USA , covering and analysing English Premier League soccer matches ?

Well if not , you should take a look , and see how laughable an outside broadcaster that knows nothing about soccer can offer.

AugustusMinimus

allthedoyles wrote: »

People on here are complaining about TV3 dismal coverage .

Its not very fair , when you havent even seen yet what Sky will bring .

Has anyone on here ever watched Fox Sports in USA , covering and analysing English Premier League soccer matches ?

Well if not , you should take a look , and see how laughable an outside broadcaster that knows nothing about soccer can offer.

I'd rather listen to Rupert Murdoch himself take me through the finer points of hurling than Matt Cooper.

keane2097

Ace2007 wrote: »

namloc1980 wrote: »

AI semi finals and finals are FTA. 25 years ago only 6 GAA championship games were on TV? What did people do then?

probably didn't have a TV so listened on the radio

Ace2007 wrote: »

I don't know what the TV situation was like 25 years ago, but I imagine there wasn't as much shown back then - you say there were 6 games, well then people weren't missing out.

lol are you for real? Your argument is that most people didn't have TVs and listened to games on the wireless 25 years ago - ****ing 1990!?

namloc1980

allthedoyles wrote: »

People on here are complaining about TV3 dismal coverage .

Its not very fair , when you havent even seen yet what Sky will bring .

Has anyone on here ever watched Fox Sports in USA , covering and analysing English Premier League soccer matches ?

Well if not , you should take a look , and see how laughable an outside broadcaster that knows nothing about soccer can offer.

Fox in that case are playing to a home audience. Anyway Matt Cooper and tv3 blurry-vision versus Sky and HD coverage.....no contest!!

Southern Belle

robbiezero wrote: »

It is an amateur largely voluntary community-oriented organisation and I don't believe that 2 of the biggest games in its calendar should be PPV. I'm not totally against games being PPV just not two quarter finals.

Take your point but still dont understand why you ( and others) feel *entitled* to FTA. Sure everyone would rather anything free than pay for it-who wouldnt but the entitlement thing is really baffling me. I too am a GAA member/volunteer/grass roots person and never have I decided to or not to help out the organisation on the premise that I can watch matches free or otherwise on TV..I do it for the love of the game....and at the end of the day the game's still the game

keane2097

robbiezero wrote: »

I am a GAA member and I feel that I should be entitled to watch the All-Ireland quarter-finals on free-to-air TV and I can't see what's so staggering about that.

Are there any games you don't feel that you are entitled to watch that you would be happy for the GAA to sell the rights to?

Ace2007

keane2097 wrote: »

lol are you for real? Your argument is that most people didn't have TVs and listened to games on the wireless 25 years ago - ****ing 1990!?

meh, I was thinking more of the 80's when I made the comment, then went I thought about 25 years ago figure 1990's everyone had TV's.

But the point about the matches being on TV doesn't really change. They weren't available to anyone so it's not as it you were at a disadvantage, now they have been sold to a ppv TV service. So you either pay or you don't go.
There were alternative offers made that would have seen those games stay of FTA stations.

Selling them to a PPV service will not grow the sport - if you wanted to grow it would they not just provide the rights to an English station to air for free. It's purely a money deal and that's it.

ProudDUB

Sam Jam wrote: »

I urge all intercounty players and teams to inform their respective county boards that they will not partake this year or any other year in intercounty championship games until sky have been shown the door.

There should be a walkout now.

Best of luck with that. I follow a fair few of them on Twitter. I have yet to read a negative comment about the Sky deal, from any of them. The tweets so far have been over whelmingly positive. If we here, the media & the average man on the street all have divided opinions on the matter, why would you expect every single GAA player to only have one opinion on the matter and, to all think exactly like you? If we don't all agree on the issue, why would the players?

Lapin

ArraMusha wrote: »

Forcing supporters into pubs to buy expensive drink and passing it onto Ruperts pocket.

No more watching big matches in the comfort of you own home on a Sunday after the spuds unless you can afford Sky sports. This was one of the most enjoyable things we had as "a people" in Ireland and a HUGE social part of our lives..gone now to the commercial vultures.

Only 4 of the Sunday games are being covered by SKY so the sky isn't going to fall down as a result.

All this talk of commercial vultures is utter billshít and getting tedious now.

Another huge part of Irish social life is watching the games in the pub.
If you haven't got any friends who would welcome you into their home to watch them then give the pub a chance and think of it as supporting local business. For less than a tenner you can sit there and have a couple of pints or soft drinks and maybe even go all out and treat yourself to a bag of Tayto.

Who knows? You might even get enjoy yourself over those four Sundays.

keane2097

Ace2007 wrote: »

meh, I was thinking more of the 80's when I made the comment, then went I thought about 25 years ago figure 1990's everyone had TV's.

But the point about the matches being on TV doesn't really change. They weren't available to anyone so it's not as it you were at a disadvantage, now they have been sold to a ppv TV service. So you either pay or you don't go.
There were alternative offers made that would have seen those games stay of FTA stations.

Selling them to a PPV service will not grow the sport - if you wanted to grow it would they not just provide the rights to an English station to air for free. It's purely a money deal and that's it.

What do you reckon the money will be used for?

lovelypoint

Lapin wrote: »

No I didn't miss that at all.

I just think you seem to confuse 'exclusively' with not available in Ireland when you use words like 'shut down to demestic audiences'.

All the games are still available to watch in Ireland.

We shall have to agree to disagree then. A significant amount of people will now find themselves unable to watch these games for one reason or another. That is enough for me.

keane2097

Lapin wrote: »

Only 4 of the Sunday games are being covered by SKY so the sky isn't going to fall down as a result.

All this talk of commercial vultures is utter billshít and getting tedious now.

Another huge part of Irish social life is watching the games in the pub.
If you haven't got any friends who would welcome you into their home to watch them then give the pub a chance and think of it as supporting local business. For less than a tenner you can sit there and have a couple of pints or soft drinks and maybe even go all out and treat yourself to a bag of Tayto.

Who knows? You might even get enjoy yourself over those four Sundays.

Or just put the price of the pint towards the €6 for the month's access to Sky Go.

yop

ProudDUB wrote: »

Best of luck with that. I follow a fair few of them on Twitter. I have yet to read a negative comment about the Sky deal, from any of them. The tweets so far have been over whelmingly positive. If we here, the media & the average man on the street all have divided opinions on the matter, why would you expect every single GAA player to only have one opinion on the matter and, to all think exactly like you? If we don't all agree on the issue, why would the players?

Abolutely, haven't seen on Mayo player who are on twitter give out about it, in fact they are positive it will only help improve the money available to grass roots.

Seen the report on Sky Sports there, notice the "Sky Sports" paper label stuck to the football and hurling balls!

Southern Belle

yop wrote: »

Abolutely, haven't seen on Mayo player who are on twitter give out about it, in fact they are positive it will only help improve the money available to grass roots.

Seen the report on Sky Sports there, notice the "Sky Sports" paper label stuck to the football and hurling balls!

You didn't just say "hurling balls", did you?!

sid waddell

With the loss of the Champions League bound to affect them, Sky are predominantly trying to protect their market share and going after GAA rights was a no-brainer in terms of protecting market share in Ireland.

The GAA will always find itself in an awkward spot when it comes to these type of negotiations. It is, to use the phrase that woman from Bray Emmets used on PrimeTime, primarily a volunteer-led, community organisation. But it also has to adopt hard-headed business principles. It has a duty to bring in as much money as possible. It has to compete against professional sporting organsations, and it has to promote itself in a similar way. The inter-county scene is the shop window and is competing against rugby and the Premier League.

For years many people, including myself, have complained that the games were not being promoted and marketed and they should be, both in Ireland and abroad. I think RTE do a reasonably good job on their live coverage, but otherwise they have been complacent both in terms of their highlights and magazine programmes, and in terms of their general promotion of the games. I hope and expect that Sky will unleash the full repertoire of their technological wizardry on their coverage, as the games are perfectly suited for it. This will force RTE to up their game.

There has always been opposition to change in the GAA. The Ban, live TV in the mid-90s, the back door, Rule 21 and the opening of Croke Park were all bitterly opposed. Many of the same people who oppose this would have opposed the introduction of live TV matches every Sunday in the mid-90s. You cannot stand still in a competitive market. Sky is seen, for better or for worse, as the premier sports broadcaster in this part of the world, and the very fact that Sky want Gaelic Games is promotion in itself. The deal gives a genuine oppurtunity to promote Gaelic Games in a way they have never been promoted before, both at home and abroad. Gaelic Games deserve to be seen by a wider audience, even if it will only be a niche market. The deal with the Seven Network in Australia to show 45 live matches is an outstanding coup. Whatever about the loss of some matches to free to air in Ireland, this deal is an unprecedented step in opening up Gaelic Games to new markets.

I do take certain points made by the anti-Sky side, that point about people in West Cork not having access to live TV coverage of an All-Ireland football quarter-final involving Cork is a valid one. Ideally every game would be free to air, but that's not the world we live in. The GAA has done a good job in striking a balance here. As I said previously, the real worry will come with the next deal - I would be opposed to any more matches being taken off free to air than is the case with this deal. I think the GAA took a retrograde step by reducing the number of live matches two or three years back. However it's very likely Sky will push for exclusive rights to provincial finals with the next deal. I hope that doesn't happen although I would have no objection to them simulcasting with RTE.

yop

Southern Belle wrote: »

You didn't just say "hurling balls", did you?!

lol, I couldn't remember the correct name for slitar (sp) so it was as easy to type ball Its round, its a ball

Yurt

Can Imagine Martin Tyler now, 'It's the Junior B Connacht Semi Final...AND IT'S LIIVE

keane2097

I really don't buy that there's anyone in the country that would have been able to watch some game on TV3 that will be completely unable to get Sky, get to Croke Park, get to the pub for an hour and a half or watch the game with a friend or relative who has Sky or even find an online stream.

Ace2007

keane2097 wrote: »

What do you reckon the money will be used for?

Who knows, but the GAA are saying the deal is to promote the games etc,

I've mentioned several times that these games are free to watch for anyone world wide, I've mention that they could have given the games for to an a FTA provider abroad if they want to promote the game over seas.

They should just came out and said there were doing it for the money

omega666

keane2097 wrote: »

I really don't buy that there's anyone in the country that would have been able to watch some game on TV3 that will be completely unable to get Sky, get to Croke Park, get to the pub for an hour and a half or watch the game with a friend or relative who has Sky or even find an online stream.

Yeah because all the old people in the country will be getting their Samsung galaxy S5's out in anticipation to download the sky app.

Or the family with 4 kids will spend their Sundays down the pub or spend a fortune heading to croker .

sid waddell

Ace2007 wrote: »

Who knows, but the GAA are saying the deal is to promote the games etc,

I've mentioned several times that these games are free to watch for anyone world wide, I've mention that they could have given the games for to an a FTA provider abroad if they want to promote the game over seas.

They should just came out and said there were doing it for the money

45 matches live on Seven in Australia would seem to fit that bill very nicely indeed to me.

keane2097

omega666 wrote: »

Yeah because all the old people in the country will be getting their Samsung galaxy S5's out in anticipation to download the sky app.

Or the family with 4 kids will spend their Sundays down the pub or spend a fortune heading to croker .

Old people in the country and families with four children don't have phones, tablets, laptops, money for sky for one month, access to the pub, ability to travel to matches or anyone else in the world who would be willing to let them come and watch the game?

Come on. Seriously.

It's like we're meant to be the land of Darby O'Gill and the Little People again here. Nobody is that busto or that isolated.

keane2097

Ace2007 wrote: »

Who knows, but the GAA are saying the deal is to promote the games etc,

I've mentioned several times that these games are free to watch for anyone world wide, I've mention that they could have given the games for to an a FTA provider abroad if they want to promote the game over seas.

They should just came out and said there were doing it for the money

I doubt your major problem with the whole thing is a perceived dishonesty on the GAA's part? Let's just skip this bit and get to whether you'd be ok with everything if Liam O'Neill said they did it because it was the best financial deal?

yop

keane2097 wrote: »

Old people in the country and families with four children don't have phones, tablets, laptops, money for sky for one month, access to the pub, ability to travel to matches or anyone else in the world who would be willing to let them come and watch the game?

Come on. Seriously.

It's like we're meant to be the land of Darby O'Gill and the Little People again here. Nobody is that busto or that isolated.

In fairness there are plenty who don't have sky and/or bb coverage. The quality of BB is shocking in rural Ireland, but thats a whole other discussion.

As I stated earlier, my parents are pensioners and can't afford sky and can't afford BB. So my Dad goes, my mother watches the games at home, but she won't see the Sky games.
Its not that far fetched a scenario.

Colonial

Th3B1tcH wrote: »

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0104141419-media-rights-press-release/
"Sky Sports will also broadcast live the All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals"

GAA sold out on its fans very bad move

maybe in 3d? .. Also imagine if there was player cam and other modern options available to us for the first time through Sky broadcasting?

Ace2007

sid waddell wrote: »

45 matches live on Seven in Australia would seem to fit that bill very nicely indeed to me.

Yea and if you don't live in Australia will you be watching for free / if yes why have the sky deal?

Johnboy1951

I have been a GAA supporter all of my life, but this deal has caused me to have a serious re-think.

I applaud the fact that they are promoting the game abroad, and the deal in Australia seems to be good for everyone involved.

The fact that games will be streamed live on the internet is also a good, if belated move. I have no details about what this will cost the viewer or if there will be many limitations ...... such as the stream not being allowed to be shown publicly. We will have to await details I suppose. I surely hope they do not do what Eircom have done with their Setanta sports offering, and essentially put it behind a further paywall ..... one is required to have one of two commercial operating systems on the PC and have installed a very specific piece of software that is only available for those two. (Not that the quality of the streams is worth watching from Eircom anyway).

Getting Sky involved to show games to an English audience is also to be applauded. What Sky charge for that privilege is of no concern to me.

So essentially there are a lot of positives in these deals.

Unfortunately - for me - the whole lot is soured by the 'exclusivity' clause/s. How much foreign promotion of the game would have been lost without that exclusiveness?

To my way of thinking, what would have been lost is money, and only money! (Not lost, but not gained)

So, for a reduction in monies, the game could be promoted in the UK, just as it is to be, in Australia.

For me personally this is sickening ... to the point that I will consider my response when next I am asked for subs, buy & sell tickets to various 'draws' locally, and sponsorship.
My initial reaction is to tell them to ask Sky for the money.

No I do not have a Sky subscription (or any other), and I will not have one in future. I would prefer to abandon decades of support rather than continue to support an organisation who are blatently on a road I completely disagree with.

A bridge too far for me.
It saddens me, but life here will go on without them (as I am sure their's will without me).

Ace2007

keane2097 wrote: »

I doubt your major problem with the whole thing is a perceived dishonesty on the GAA's part? Let's just skip this bit and get to whether you'd be ok with everything if Liam O'Neill said they did it because it was the best financial deal?

Well at least that would be the truth - like I mention already I have sky I have setanta as well and I go to matches. But others as pointed out to you don't have all these options.

Ace2007

By the time the next deal comes around it will be either 0 or more exclusive rights to games, if sky see an increase in subscriptions and think it will increase with more games they will bid for them.

It could be 20/30 games in 2017 including semi final or finals

sid waddell

Ace2007 wrote: »

Yea and if you don't live in Australia will you be watching for free / if yes why have the sky deal?

37 live matches will be free to air on RTE.

In 1994 there were 8 live matches.

When proper live TV coverage of the provincial championships came in in 1996 there was widespread opposition.

Like opposition to this deal will prove to be, it was baseless scaremongering.

ProudDUB

On the Sky thing and rural areas & streams, its not just our county cousins who have issues. I have really crap broadband service with Eircom, as I have the bad luck to live in a housing estate that can't get upgraded UPC service. (Long story, don't ask )

Yet, I am still able to watch A TON of stuff on Sky Sports by using streams on my laptop. I can't do it on the wifi, as the wirelss connection is too slow to support it. But if I plug an old fashioned ethernet cable (remember those) into my laptop, the streams work just fine.

Naturally, I am not advocating that people do anything illegal, but I think that people are over thinking the people can't afford Sky/have to go to the pub/won't someone think of the children and the elderly and the sick aspect. I don't mean to sound callous, but here are other options out there. I am damm sure that I am not the only one who takes advantage of them.

yop wrote: »

Abolutely, haven't seen on Mayo player who are on twitter give out about it, in fact they are positive it will only help improve the money available to grass roots.

Seen the report on Sky Sports there, notice the "Sky Sports" paper label stuck to the football and hurling balls!

Yep, Shane Scanlon (sports editor of the Indo) just tweeted pretty much the same thing. He has been keeping an eye on player reaction and he is isn't seeing anything negative about it either.

Btw, I can see a drinking game in the not too distant future, where we all down a shot, when some clueless Sky presenter (or posters on here who really should know better, yes yop, I am looking at you ) make a tit of themselves with the GAA terminology.

yop

ProudDUB wrote: »

On the Sky thing and rural areas & streams, its not just our county cousins who have issues. I have really crap broadband service with Eircom, as I have the bad luck to live in a housing estate that can't get upgraded UPC service. (Long story, don't ask )

Yet, I am still able to watch A TON of stuff on Sky Sports by using streams on my laptop. I can't do it on the wifi, as the wirelss connection is too slow to support it. But if I plug an old fashioned ethernet cable (remember those) into my laptop, the streams work just fine.

Naturally, I am not advocating that people do anything illegal, but I think that people are over thinking the people can't afford Sky/have to go to the pub/won't someone think of the children and the elderly and the sick aspect. I don't mean to sound callous, but here are other options out there. I am damm sure that I am not the only one who takes advantage of them.




Yep, Shane Scanlon (sports editor of the Indo) just tweeted pretty much the same thing. He has been keeping an eye on player reaction and he is isn't seeing anything negative about it either.

Btw, I can see a drinking game in the not too distant future, where we all down a shot, when some clueless Sky presenter (or posters on here who really should know better, yes yop, I am looking at you ) make a tit of themselves with the GAA terminology.

LOL, cheeky fker
In my defence I am on 14 pain killers a day and my head is mush

I know SLIOTAR

ProudDUB

Ah, the old painkillers and wine excuse. Don't worry. It could happen to a bishop.

yop

ProudDUB wrote: »

Ah, the old painkillers and wine excuse. Don't worry. It could happen to a bishop.

Who says I am not one...... "bless you my son" :P

rockonollie

Ace2007 wrote: »

Who knows, but the GAA are saying the deal is to promote the games etc,

I've mentioned several times that these games are free to watch for anyone world wide, I've mention that they could have given the games for to an a FTA provider abroad if they want to promote the game over seas.

They should just came out and said there were doing it for the money

Free to watch??......we get nothing free.....$20 per championship game, $30 for the finals to stream online

johnmcdnl

allthedoyles wrote: »

Has anyone on here ever watched Fox Sports in USA , covering and analysing English Premier League soccer matches ?

Well if not , you should take a look , and see how laughable an outside broadcaster that knows nothing about soccer can offer.

Fox isn't Sky - let's take a look at what Sky have given us in terms of covering a sport with a pretty damn small fan base in the UK, and probably outside their natural comfort zone.
I watch a lot of NFL and the analysis at half time or after the gsme is abysmal on all of the US stations - it's a cultural thing or something that style of broadcasting, the absolutely dumbed down drivel. Sky isn't amazing at NFL analysis either but far better that the crap they throw around on the US stations. If their GAA coverage and analysis is in or around the levels of what they do for NFL, which British shouldn't be experts on using your outside broadcaster analogy, it'll be 10x better than what TV3 ever offered.
A least watch one game before slamming their coverage - could be awful sure, but saying "it will be terrible" with the only reason to back it up being the US stations coverage of soccer isn't a good argument in my book.

On a side note - anyone know if they'll have their own commentators or take the audio stream from the RTE commentators during the game.

Necro

Ace2007 wrote: »

By the time the next deal comes around it will be either 0 or more exclusive rights to games, if sky see an increase in subscriptions and think it will increase with more games they will bid for them.

It could be 20/30 games in 2017 including semi final or finals

They already have access to AI Finals and Semis... just not on an exclusive basis.
I'm actually looking forward to the Sky coverage this year, they are also including a highlight show after each round so this should showcase GAA a little more to the casual viewers imo.

The one thing I am concerned about, particularly having read this thread from start to finish - is the backlash the clubs will get from the local communities. It's becoming increasingly harder to raise money to keep local clubs running and in the short term the begrudgery may have a knock on effect.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I have been a GAA supporter all of my life, but this deal has caused me to have a serious re-think.

I applaud the fact that they are promoting the game abroad, and the deal in Australia seems to be good for everyone involved.

The fact that games will be streamed live on the internet is also a good, if belated move. I have no details about what this will cost the viewer or if there will be many limitations ...... such as the stream not being allowed to be shown publicly. We will have to await details I suppose. I surely hope they do not do what Eircom have done with their Setanta sports offering, and essentially put it behind a further paywall ..... one is required to have one of two commercial operating systems on the PC and have installed a very specific piece of software that is only available for those two. (Not that the quality of the streams is worth watching from Eircom anyway).

Getting Sky involved to show games to an English audience is also to be applauded. What Sky charge for that privilege is of no concern to me.

So essentially there are a lot of positives in these deals.

Unfortunately - for me - the whole lot is soured by the 'exclusivity' clause/s. How much foreign promotion of the game would have been lost without that exclusiveness?

To my way of thinking, what would have been lost is money, and only money! (Not lost, but not gained)

So, for a reduction in monies, the game could be promoted in the UK, just as it is to be, in Australia.

For me personally this is sickening ... to the point that I will consider my response when next I am asked for subs, buy & sell tickets to various 'draws' locally, and sponsorship.
My initial reaction is to tell them to ask Sky for the money.

No I do not have a Sky subscription (or any other), and I will not have one in future. I would prefer to abandon decades of support rather than continue to support an organisation who are blatently on a road I completely disagree with.

A bridge too far for me.
It saddens me, but life here will go on without them (as I am sure their's will without me).

So I assume you would never give money to your local soccer or rugby club seeing as they have sold the rights for their games to sky years ago?

maestroamado

I have had a love/hate relationship with gaa all my life.
I believe this is the best move the gaa made in the last 20 years as the only way to go is get the money in and start paying inter county players.
the amateur status has being gone for years but it is just the administrators that are getting paid at the present... I am guessing there are many thousands getting wages and expenses and there are many hundreds od thousands giving of their time playing and coaching for free...
well done I say.....

O Riain

How much is this deal worth out of iinterest?

chinguetti

I find it somewhat funny how so many people are shocked by this. The GAA were leaking the story like mad last week to soften up the news of this so the mock outrage is a bit over the top.

Yes, the GAA have sold to Sky but the world is still spinning. The first match is Kilkenny v Offaly and if it was on RTE, how many would watch it? Kilkenny will be raging favourites and chances are it will be on a Saturday night.

The move may work, it may not, only time will tell but it was going to happen at some stage. The GAA have only given the exclusive rights to possibly 4 major games (we won't know until what games they get apart from 2 Football QFs).

The more interesting thing will be how Sky cover it. Lets be fair, they changed how soccer is covered when they took over the Premiership and look how many people subscribe to it or go to pubs to watch it (young kids especially). RTE seem far more bothered by all of this by quoting the figure of €700 for a subscription. From the little I know of Sky, you can subscribe for 3 months and then cancel so it can be done quite cheaply.

stoneill

I'm not convinced with the GAA argument that this deal with SKY was not to do with money but to bring the game to wider audiences.
If that were the case, why can't the games be simulcast on RTE and SKY? Why did BBC not get a look in? How come the all games are available in Australia? GAA said the deal will bring the Game to 10,000,000 subscribers in the UK. How many people would would able to see the games if it was given to BBC or ITV?
Doubtless SKY will bring all their camera, technology and experience to make the build up, coverage and analysis completely different from what we once knew, but to what end? Will it improve the game in any way?

The Cush

Sky's games

June 7 — Kilkenny v Offaly (Leinster SHC quarter-final)
June 14 — Dublin v Wexford (Leinster SHC semi-final)
June 21 — Sligo v Galway/London (Connacht SFC semi-final)
June 28 — Armagh/Cavan v Down/Tyrone/Monaghan (Ulster SFC semi-final)

8 Saturday-evening All-Ireland qualifiers
2 All-Ireland football quarter-finals

All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals - live coverage with RTÉ

robbiezero

Southern Belle wrote: »

Take your point but still dont understand why you ( and others) feel *entitled* to FTA. Sure everyone would rather anything free than pay for it-who wouldnt but the entitlement thing is really baffling me. I too am a GAA member/volunteer/grass roots person and never have I decided to or not to help out the organisation on the premise that I can watch matches free or otherwise on TV..I do it for the love of the game....and at the end of the day the game's still the game

Why not make every game PPV then? Would you like that?
I am certainly not going to stop doing what I do in the GAA on the basis of this. I am just disappointed that two huge games in the calendar are now PPV and people will be excluded from watching them. If this works for Sky how many more games will they look for next time?

Hidalgo

Dr.Tank Adams wrote: »

The amount of insular panic on this thread is ridiculous, it just looks so backward that people are against this, it's a completely no loss situation for anyone. I wonder if it was an American or French channel would people be as irked... I mean how many people don't have a Sky subscription nowadays anyway?

Its a loss situation for everyone that doesn't have Sky Sports

Boom__Boom

The Cush wrote: »

Sky's games

June 7 — Kilkenny v Offaly (Leinster SHC quarter-final)
June 14 — Dublin v Wexford (Leinster SHC semi-final)
June 21 — Sligo v Galway/London (Connacht SFC semi-final)
June 28 — Armagh/Cavan v Down/Tyrone/Monaghan (Ulster SFC semi-final)

8 Saturday-evening All-Ireland qualifiers
2 All-Ireland football quarter-finals

All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals - live coverage with RTÉ

Ulster SFC will be on BBC NI anyway.

Anyone remember how many qualifiers were broadcast FTA last year?

Red Cloud

Denying any GAA fan young or old access to watching their county on free to air in ANY game should have been a line in the sand.
That it was breached for Murdoch dollars
Is a travesty and a worrying precedent for Grab All's departure from its grass roots.
Spread of Gaelic games to UK Is contrived spin.
Sickened.

WesternZulu

All of them outraged at the GAA should probably focus their rage closer to RTE.

The whole reason that the GAA was in many ways forced to go down the route of splitting coverage between multiple TV channels (TV3 and RTE) 6 years ago was because of the absolute pittance that RTE had paid them for exclusive rights throughout the years.

RTE's thrifty behavior has ultimately led to this!

robbiezero

It will be interesting to see what happens at the next Congress.
There will surely be a motion against PPV games.

maestroamado

O Riain wrote: »

How much is this deal worth out of iinterest?

I think the figure per match was 1m for rte/tv3.... also I believe figures are based on available audience so it may be more with sky....
it will likely be available at the end of year accounts...