Sky eye up the All Ireland championship matches?

iDave

I saw children watching GAA matches in the pub because of Sky. Granted they just had coke and Tayto but we have now just created a new generation of alcoholics.

Realt Dearg Sec

iDave wrote: »

I saw children watching GAA matches in the pub because of Sky. Granted they just had coke and Tayto but we have now just created a new generation of alcoholics.

Who knew it was that easy?

Fr Tod Umptious

2moreMinutes wrote: »

All those positive things that are happening in real life are all very well and good but my mind won't be made up until I read the article on what the impact has been on the makey uppey old man living up the side of the mountain who can only get the two channels.

While we are on the subject of make uppey things from 2014 we should give an honorable mention to the poor guy who trains all year only to get a black card in the first game of the championship for a silly mistake.

munchkin_utd

back to more factual matters, it seems that the increased coverage in "the UK" (or do they mean Britain, or are they accounting for the UK incl Northern Ireland??) has benefited more than just youth GAA teams.

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power said it was stoked about the deal. “As an Irish business and the biggest bookie for GAA, we’re probably even more delighted than most about this deal. We offer over 80 markets on a televised GAA game and, during peak season, we will offer odds on over 150 local games from all 32 counties. As fans of home-grown sport, we’re also excited about the impact this will have on GAA in general,” a spokesperson commented.

Public Relations Manager Féilim Mac An Iomaire said they took in 27 per cent more bets from UK punters than last year, with more interest and added excitement from across the Irish Sea.

http://www.sbcnews.co.uk/sportsbook/2014/09/09/paddy-power-takes-27-more-bets-from-punters-as-gaa-gaelic-football-hurling-explodes-across-uk/

ArmaniJeanss

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Seeing as this is the thread that contains all the discussion on whether the deal should be done, here's some quotes from an Examiner article on how the coverage has affected clubs on the ground in Britain.



http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/blue-skies-on-the-horizon-for-british-gaa-clubs-290432.html

Excellent feedback if its true - a small step closer to my dream of the sport going professional in the UK&Europe, a new governing body rejecting the rule of Croke Pk, a period of soul searching, and then inevitably Ireland having to embrace professionalism a decade later.

Realt Dearg Sec

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Excellent feedback if its true - a small step closer to my dream of the sport going professional in the UK&Europe, a new governing body rejecting the rule of Croke Pk, a period of soul searching, and then inevitably Ireland having to embrace professionalism a decade later.

This is a little off topic, but plenty of people have made a connection between Sky and the spectre of professionalism so I guess it's relevant, but I've always wondered with people who actually are in favour of professionalism: why? What is in it for its supporters? I can understand a player who stands to make a living from it, but for anyone else, what's the actual attraction of professionalising the sport? It seems to me you lose a lot, and I don't see what good comes of it?

(And as someone who was on the fence about the Sky deal it seems on balance to be a good thing)

mickmackey1

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

what's the actual attraction of professionalising the sport?

Well obviously because if a player can continually practise his craft, rather than having to work elsewhere all day, he becomes more expert at it, therefore leading to higher quality performance, therefore leading to more entertainment for the fans...

munchkin_utd

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

This is a little off topic, but plenty of people have made a connection between Sky and the spectre of professionalism so I guess it's relevant, but I've always wondered with people who actually are in favour of professionalism: why? What is in it for its supporters? I can understand a player who stands to make a living from it, but for anyone else, what's the actual attraction of professionalising the sport? It seems to me you lose a lot, and I don't see what good comes of it?

(And as someone who was on the fence about the Sky deal it seems on balance to be a good thing)

its a lot off topic to be honest, and is a can of worms if ever there was (in terms of boards discussions)

keane2097

I suspect AJ was being slightly facetious!

ArmaniJeanss

keane2097 wrote: »

I suspect AJ was being slightly facetious!

Actually not - I'd embrace professionalism but think it is unlikely to ever happen from within. The only way it happens is from the outside imo, teams in London, Manchester, Madrid, Paris etc playing the games and paying players (even a small amount). Unlikely to happen but if English people with no Gaeilge connection are truly starting to take up the game then it at least becomes a possibility.
And obviously if the game ever does seriously take off abroad then its hugely unlikely that the newbies will accept Croke Pk as the arbiter of everything.

Prop Joe

Sean Hopkins, chairman of Lancashire GAA County Board, said: “It’s phenomenal what’s happening at the moment. A few teachers in Manchester I know told me English-born kids, with no background or knowledge at all of GAA, are coming into school the whole time talking about hurling rather than the Premiership.

C'mon kids in Ireland go to school talking about the premiership more then the All Ireland never mind England


Chairman of London-based Sean Treacy’s hurling club, Martin Carroll, said the Sky exposure will enable him to launch an underage team.

Underage coach at London’s St. Brendan’s GAA Football Club, Paul Hughes, says “I’ve been coaching here for 15 years and I’ve never seen such interest as there’s been in the past few months. We’ve one underage team at the moment, but we’ll be able to double that number by next year because of the Sky coverage.”


We will see if this is true next year,I was involved in GAA in London for a long time & there is very little interest in juvenile GAA in such clubs.Reason why? - They will never play for the senior team so why bother?

The SKY deal is actually a poor deal for the Irish diaspora in the UK but it's a good deal for some geezer who has never seen it and happens to have SKY and switches it on for the odd game.I would imagine it will be in the hundreds of actual fans it will create.

If the GAA were serious about promoting the game in the UK it would of went with a FTA broadcaster like they did in Australia.

SKY deal was about money and nothing else.

iDave

Prop Joe wrote: »

If the GAA were serious about promoting the game in the UK it would of went with a FTA broadcaster like they did in Australia.

SKY deal was about money and nothing else.

Which FTA broadcasters bid for it?

Prop Joe

The same amount as did for the Australian rights - none

Channel 7 in Oz were approached by the GAA to broadcast the games for free

iDave

Prop Joe wrote: »

The same amount as did for the Australian rights - none

Channel 7 in Oz were approached by the GAA to broadcast the games for free

Ok fair enough. And its a handy filler in the middle of the night for them.
Were BBC, ITV, C4 realistically going to give up prime time slots on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon for GAA?

BonnieSituation

The audience for the GAA in Britain was static. The Irish people there and amongst the diaspora were watching it etc. This does open up a new audience. The affect on most people in Britain that previously watched it is negligible given that it was already being watched in pubs, online or in homes with Sky on RTÉ.

BonnieSituation

iDave wrote: »

Ok fair enough. And its a handy filler in the middle of the night for them.
Were BBC, ITV, C4 realistically going to give up prime time slots on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon for GAA?

Has anyone heard about C7's coverage at all? Is it just direct syndication of RTÉ and Sky broadcasts?

iDave

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Has anyone heard about C7's coverage at all? Is it just direct syndication of RTÉ and Sky broadcasts?

As far as I know it is.

Prop Joe

iDave wrote: »

Ok fair enough. And its a handy filler in the middle of the night for them.
Were BBC, ITV, C4 realistically going to give up prime time slots on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon for GAA?

The coverage on Oz TV was on the equivalent of ITV4, BBC4, Channel5* etc..

It was nowhere near a top TV station & plus the fact it was on in the middle of the night it was a no brainer.

Now if the SKY figures for the UK are to be believed in would be a big winner for ITV4,Channel5* etc.. to be getting that viewership on a Sunday at 3'o clock on there secondary or forth choice channel.

munchkin_utd

iDave wrote: »

Which FTA broadcasters bid for it?

none.
which prop joe seems to have ignored for the umpeenth time.

from the records of the irish government Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, heres what Padraic Duffy said on the matter

The Chairman asked whether we had to go with Sky. We offered the opportunity to tender to every conceivable broadcast unit in the United Kingdom, including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
The BBC was only interested in teams involved in the Ulster championship and had no interest beyond that.
We received no bids from ITV or Channel 4. The only broadcaster available to us, if we wanted to make the games available at home available to those in Britain, was Sky. We were grateful that Sky showed an interest because there were no other bids on the table. The BBC received the same tender documentation as Sky, as did ITV and Channel 4 but there was no interest.

http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/Debates%20Authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/committeetakes/TRJ2014041500004?opendocument

iDave

Prop Joe wrote: »

The coverage on Oz TV was on the equivalent of ITV4, BBC4, Channel5* etc..

It was nowhere near a top TV station & plus the fact it was on in the middle of the night it was a no brainer.

Now if the SKY figures for the UK are to be believed in would be a big winner for ITV4,Channel5* etc.. to be getting that viewership on a Sunday at 3'o clock on there secondary or forth choice channel.

Yes but we still have no reason to believe any of those networks would of taken up the chance to show GAA. They could of continued to screen their own shows/repeats for free and get similar audiences instead of something they have to pay for.
You can call the GAA money hungry all you want but they certainly shouldn't be giving it away for free.
GAA has been around for years and they never made any effort to screen it. Sky have been knocking on the door for some time now.
Sky was the best option, they were prepared to buy the rights and put in the effort to use their own presenters and technology.

bruschi

Prop Joe wrote: »

The coverage on Oz TV was on the equivalent of ITV4, BBC4, Channel5* etc..

It was nowhere near a top TV station & plus the fact it was on in the middle of the night it was a no brainer.

Now if the SKY figures for the UK are to be believed in would be a big winner for ITV4,Channel5* etc.. to be getting that viewership on a Sunday at 3'o clock on there secondary or forth choice channel.

so they should have given it away for free, even though they had received an offer off a company to buy the rights? I know the GAA is amateur, but how amateur would they look if hey said, "no, lets give it to a company, who aren't interested, and who aren't going to pay for it ahead of a renowned sports station who are paying us".

Prop Joe

But it's OK to give it to Channel 7 in Australia for free?

"The only broadcaster available to us, if we wanted to make the games available at home available to those in Britain, was Sky."

Padraic Duffy seemed to forget Premier Sports showed the championship for years in the UK

Duffy is a liar

bruschi

Prop Joe wrote: »

But it's OK to give it to Channel 7 in Australia for free?

Padraic Duffy seemed to forget Premier Sports showed the championship for years in the UK

Duffy is a liar

who offered to pay for it in Australia?

Prop Joe

bruschi wrote: »

who offered to pay for it in Australia?

No other channel but this is where the GAA muddied the waters.

They said it was not about money but about reaching the diaspora.

The SKY deal in fact reduced the number of IRISH watching GAA.

If the GAA had said from day dot it was a pure commercial decision there would be an understanding BUT Duffy and co. waffled and waffled lies after lies which soured the deal IMO.

I understand broadcasting rights is a huge revenue for the association but Duffy stated at the time " the fact is the increase in revenue is minimal compared to the tv3 deal "

copacetic

munchkin_utd wrote: »

none.
which prop joe seems to have ignored for the umpeenth time.

from the records of the irish government Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, heres what Padraic Duffy said on the matter

http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/Debates%20Authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/committeetakes/TRJ2014041500004?opendocument

that wasn't true though, premier sports in the UK had already been providing full championship coverage for less cost (i.e all championship games were on the sky platform) and bid to do the same again. They also didn't have any exclusive games.

they were outbid by sky for the rights.

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CE4QFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgaeliclife.com%2F2014%2F04%2Fjoe-brolly-the-gaas-forgtten-principles%2F&ei=FNM3VN3kPNPY7AaK_4HgBQ&usg=AFQjCNFaSeL4u_xmKHJ9XiTBuk1vI26zKgrolly-the-gaas-forgtten-principles/#sthash.NYUmY7kX.dpuf

The justifications for the SKY deal, that it increases the audience and encourages global participation, are fallacies. Up until now, UK Gaels could watch all the games via Premier Sports for £9.99 a month. From now on, assuming they want to watch the games owned by SKY, they will have to pay for both Premier and SKY Sports. As Premier Sports Chief Richard Sweeney said on Wednesday “ Our coverage was priced at £9.99 a month. Now UK fans are being asked to fork out huge sums to continue watching on TV.” A new subscription digital streaming service provided by RTE will in future give worldwide access to all games and highlights. This takes care of the US in particular. In Australia, where the streaming service is also available, Channel 7 will have free to air coverage of all games, slotted into the dead hours in their schedule. As their twitter account put it “ To be sure, to be sure, we’re showing live Gaelic football this year. Games will be v late night so you’ll need coffee. Or Guinness!” Doesn’t it make you feel proud? - See more at: http://gaeliclife.com/2014/04/joe-brolly-the-gaas-forgtten-principles/#sthash.NYUmY7kX.dpuf

kksaints

Was figures for the hurling replay and the football final ever announced? Remember seeing decent figures for the 1st Hurling final.

munchkin_utd

kksaints wrote: »

Was figures for the hurling replay and the football final ever announced? Remember seeing decent figures for the 1st Hurling final.

from
http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new/weekly-top-10?

LIVE GAA: FOOTBALL FINAL (SUN 1430) 51,000
and at the same timeslot on the other sky sport channels
LIVE FORD SUPER SUNDAY - MATCH (SUN 1530) 1,434,000
LIVE EUROPEAN TOUR GOLF: FINAL RND (SUN 1230) 62,000


LIVE GAA: HURLING FINAL (SAT 1630) 55,000
and at the same timeslot on the other sky sport channels
LIVE FORD SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (SAT 1645) 913,000
THE RYDER CUP - LIVE (SAT 1258) 675,000
LIVE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP: RSA V AUS (SAT 1545) 69,000

threeball

Be interesting in 3 years time to see if the new UTV franchise down here will want a slice of the pie seen as they'll have their feet under them by then and possibly a slightly increasing interest in the UK.

I don't see it really ever taking off unless the GAA embraces some sort of league structure that runs through the championship. People want to back a team and you can't follow a team that disappears for 12 months after 2 games.

Prop Joe

threeball wrote: »

Be interesting in 3 years time to see if the new UTV franchise down here will want a slice of the pie seen as they'll have their feet under them by then and possibly a slightly increasing interest in the UK.
.

UTV will be in a far better situation than TV3 as it will cover all 32 counties

threeball

Prop Joe wrote: »

UTV will be in a far better situation than TV3 as it will cover all 32 counties

Plus it has the big bucks behind it. Granada are a huge outfit

Prop Joe

threeball wrote: »

Plus it has the big bucks behind it. Granada are a huge outfit

I wonder could UTV push Sky out of the market.

They could offer full coverage across all of Ireland & the UK on FTA.

Now that would be a serious deal for the GAA

Boom__Boom

Prop Joe wrote: »

I wonder could UTV push Sky out of the market.

They could offer full coverage across all of Ireland & the UK on FTA.

Now that would be a serious deal for the GAA

I'd imagine the RTE GAA propaganda department are already hard at work coming up with arguments that prove that GAA games not being broadcast on RTE would immediately lead to violence in the streets.

RoyalCelt

Prop Joe wrote: »

No other channel but this is where the GAA muddied the waters.

They said it was not about money but about reaching the diaspora.

The SKY deal in fact reduced the number of IRISH watching GAA.

If the GAA had said from day dot it was a pure commercial decision there would be an understanding BUT Duffy and co. waffled and waffled lies after lies which soured the deal IMO.

I understand broadcasting rights is a huge revenue for the association but Duffy stated at the time " the fact is the increase in revenue is minimal compared to the tv3 deal "

joe why does it bother you why the GAA did it? it's not like it's your wife who won't tell you where she went on a sat night. The fact is this deal was good over all and the likes of you are wasting your time trying to make the GAA look like lying scum.

RoyalCelt

Prop Joe wrote: »

I wonder could UTV push Sky out of the market.

They could offer full coverage across all of Ireland & the UK on FTA.

Now that would be a serious deal for the GAA

the situation is definitely getting better for the GAA. UTV vs Sky is the perfect combo bidding for their second package and UK rights.

BBC have zero interest in putting a good bid in for northern ireland. Evn if Sky can renew a deal in 2 years time chances are it will have gone up a lot as a result of UTV going for it too.

By then sky's coverage will be even better so i'd nearly prefer they keep it.

Edit: Maybe UTV would get the rights for the 32 irish counties and sky for britain and simulcast in ireland with some of rte's matches.

Fr Tod Umptious

I'm not sure where people are getting the idea that UTV Ireland getting rights would mean GAA on the TV in the UK.

Any UTV Ireland bid would likely to be for the territory that UTV Ireland operate, just like TV3.

UTV had the rights to Ulster championship about 20 years ago and have not had them since.

threeball

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I'm not sure where people are getting the idea that UTV Ireland getting rights would mean GAA on the TV in the UK.

Any UTV Ireland bid would likely to be for the territory that UTV Ireland operate, just like TV3.

UTV had the rights to Ulster championship about 20 years ago and have not had them since.

It'll depend how much traction the games get in the uk in the next two years as to whether utv would consider it worth their while.

Prop Joe

RoyalCelt wrote: »

joe why does it bother you why the GAA did it? it's not like it's your wife who won't tell you where she went on a sat night. The fact is this deal was good over all and the likes of you are wasting your time trying to make the GAA look like lying scum.

My point is this deal has not been "good over all"

For the record the GAA is a massive part of my life and i am a huge supporter of the association and am heavily involved in club level.

I more often than not back the GAA in nearly all it's major moves over the past few years and believe congress has being doing a super job in improving our games.

The SKY deal for me makes no sense and the reasons that we were told of it coming to fruition didnt add up

RoyalCelt

Prop Joe wrote: »

My point is this deal has not been "good over all"

For the record the GAA is a massive part of my life and i am a huge supporter of the association and am heavily involved in club level.

I more often than not back the GAA in nearly all it's major moves over the past few years and believe congress has being doing a super job in improving our games.

The SKY deal for me makes no sense and the reasons that we were told of it coming to fruition didnt add up

personally i think it was. TV3 were chronic in their effort and were only available in 26 counties. At least sky cover all 32 and the UK as well. A few hundred thousand more watched the AI finals on TV this year than would have if TV3 had the gig instead of sky. They are showing RTE up as well which is a good thing. Likewise GAA clubs in England are reaping the rewards. This is an area with huge potential growth and the GAA are doing it the right way.

Fr Tod Umptious

threeball wrote: »

It'll depend how much traction the games get in the uk in the next two years as to whether utv would consider it worth their while.

You mean ITV, not UTV ?.

Prop Joe

RoyalCelt wrote: »

personally i think it was. TV3 were chronic in their effort and were only available in 26 counties. At least sky cover all 32 and the UK as well. A few hundred thousand more watched the AI finals on TV this year than would have if TV3 had the gig instead of sky. They are showing RTE up as well which is a good thing. Likewise GAA clubs in England are reaping the rewards. This is an area with huge potential growth and the GAA are doing it the right way.

Well thats a personal choice,IMO RTE have been far superior in the coverage most notably the montages and the super analysis of the hurling.

Sky IMO coverage was poor enough with all of TV3's annalists.I did like the extra camera angles though.

The notion that English clubs are receiving an influx of new players in false,I am heavily involved in London GAA and the new numbers joining and trying out are tiny.

IMO a 10yr old young fella in Leitrim is alot more likely to take up hurling after watching the KK v Offaly match than a young guy in Wolverhampton

RoyalCelt

Prop Joe wrote: »

Well thats a personal choice,IMO RTE have been far superior in the coverage most notably the montages and the super analysis of the hurling.

Sky IMO coverage was poor enough with all of TV3's annalists.I did like the extra camera angles though.

The notion that English clubs are receiving an influx of new players in false,I am heavily involved in London GAA and the new numbers joining and trying out are tiny.

IMO a 10yr old young fella in Leitrim is alot more likely to take up hurling after watching the KK v Offaly match than a young guy in Wolverhampton

Sky ave the TV3 package. Compare like with like. They are miles better than TV3 and are doing much more for the game than TV3 ever could. First year was great.Youcan bet they will improve next year and the year after. TV3 were happy to keep their poor efforts and never improve.