Sky eye up the All Ireland championship matches?

WesternZulu

nidge123 wrote: »

I am disgusted with their announcement, there is many a family in ireland today who will miss games because of the gaa greed. Two of my sons play hurling , we love the games , yes we have sky but unfortunately you have to think of families who dont or more importantly cannot afford sky miss out on games,

I don't get this attitude about 'GAA greed'?

You can look up the GAA accounts online and see where all the money goes.

It's not an association that runs on fresh air and needs revenue streams...and these extra finances are ploughed back into the game just like they were when Croke Park was rented out for rugby and soccer internationals.

Hardly greed when the money is ultimately redistributed back into the game at all levels.

Boom__Boom

At least with SKY, people have a choice - if you want to watch then you pay, if you don't want to watch, you don't have to pay.

With RTE there is no choice - you have to pay or you will be throw in jail.

lovelypoint

Is there any form of protest one can throw one's support behind, in relation to this whole tv rights shenanigans, by the way ?

STB

NiallSparky wrote: »

This is good for the GAA and those who play the game around the country. It's not good for those who don't bother attending games. The former are more important to the sport, so I don't think it's a bad decision really.

There's laws in place in Ireland that prohibit certain events being exclusive to paid television services. The games that Sky are getting aren't important enough. People don't have a right to access free television coverage of sporting events that they themselves find important. The fact that they players are amateur makes no difference.

So real fans are those that attend the sport. The poor, immobile, busy, casual viewers are not real fans. They can watch the Eastenders omnibus instead. I see.

The Laws you are referring (Major events sports coverage) only protect the ALL Ireland Finals.

The fact that the game is an amateur sport and (has stayed that way) is steeped in history is what makes the game our national sport. Stopping even casual Irish viewers on this Island from watching the showcase of GAA in the Championship were good natured and sometimes passionate inter county and inter provincial rivalry is not a good thing, whatsoever.

That the GAA got into bed with a foreign company who by their very nature dont even return the VAT to this country on their Irish made subscriptions is enough.

Boom__Boom wrote: »

At least with SKY, people have a choice - if you want to watch then you pay, if you don't want to watch, you don't have to pay.

With RTE there is no choice - you have to pay or you will be throw in jail.

What ? You need a TV licence regardless of what TV station you are watching.

The only people who get thrown in jail are those who ignore court orders.

Lapin

Well done to the GAA !

Long overdue.

RTÉ's reaction all day has been bordering on pathetic. Especially on the Six One News.

It's about time our national games were opened up to international live TV audiences.

I hope they get to see hurling at it's best in front of full houses in Croke Park.

Preferably with Galway dishing out yet another whipping to the Cats.

3mm

I think it's a good idea . Gaelic games has the chance to become a household sport around the world.

WesternZulu

I have a feeling that the same people b***hing about this are the same people who have no issue in going down the pub to watch Munster/Leinster/Man U/Liverpool.

You'd swear the GAA sold the rights for every game in the Championship when in reality there is little difference in the amount of games being shown live on free-to-air TV.

STB

Frankie Lee wrote: »

Long overdue

http://daltonr.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/52/

And 64 years later its still didnt grab the attention of the British.

This is despite the fact that International Rights have always been availble in the UK.

They are burying this on Sky 3/4 where the viewing share is a half a per cent.

The GAA's remit is the promotion of the game in their own country, and most certainly is not makin deals to the detriment of those people.

3mm wrote: »

I think it's a good idea . Gaelic games has the chance to become a household sport around the world.

They were a household sport in Ireland, just not anymore. Sure you will see a few games on RTE, just might not be your county.

WesternZulu wrote: »

I have a feeling that the same people b***hing about this are the same people who have no issue in going down the pub to watch Munster/Leinster/Man U/Liverpool.

You'd swear the GAA sold the rights for every game in the Championship when in reality there is little difference in the amount of games being shown live on free-to-air TV.

Your first point is irrelevant. Not everyone goes down to the pub. There are also people who couldnt give two shítes about the premiership.

The GAA sold 14 games to pay only TV THAT were traditionally free to air on either TV3 or RTE. In the scheme of the AI Championship those 14 is huge especially when they include provincial finals. There is a lot of people here who are Sky apologists who probably dont even pay the Sky bill in their homes.

lovelypoint

Lapin wrote: »

It's about time our national games were opened up to international live TV audiences.

Is anyone really complaining about that ? I imagine many people's issue is the shutting down of our national games to domestic viewers..

mickdw

Absolute disgrace. Pay the county players a fee at least if they are going down this road.

hotmail.com

Given the GAA's history and very recent history on all things English, this comes as a surprising development for those of us with a longer memory than a year.

Lapin

lovelypoint wrote: »

Is anyone really complaining about that ? I imagine many people's issue is the shutting down of our national games to domestic viewers..

What games are being 'shut down' to domestic audiences ?

Name one.





Just one.

WesternZulu

mickdw wrote: »

Absolute disgrace. Pay the county players a fee at least if they are going down this road.

You do realise that the GAA get money for TV rights regardless of it being from Sky or whoever...would you say the same thing if TV3 had got them instead?

Lapin

hotmail.com wrote: »

Given the GAA's history and very recent history on all things English, this comes as a surprising development for those of us with a longer memory than a year.

Not quite 'all things'.

With two All Ireland medals, a league title, six All Stars as a player and a further All Ireland and two leagues for Tipp as a manager, I would say the GAA and English have a very good history !

County rebel

With TV3 out of the picture now will RTE have coverage of the minor finals on all Ireland final day ?

Frankie Lee

The Australian deal is another pleasant surprise, should be a major story in its own right. Hopefully in time similar deals can be made in other countries.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Give the international rights to the highest (or any) bidder in the UK, US, Oz ect. so they can reach as big an audience as possible. It is nothing but pure greed that the GAA are putting Championship games behind a pay wall in Ireland though. For an organisation that relies on volunteers and amateur players to run itself this deal strikes me as a silly road for them to go down.

WesternZulu

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Give the international rights to the highest (or any) bidder in the UK, US, Oz ect. so they can reach as big an audience as possible. It is nothing but pure greed that the GAA are putting Championship games behind a pay wall in Ireland though. For an organisation that relies on volunteers and amateur players to run itself this deal strikes me as a silly road for them to go down.

How is it greed?
Who is the fat cat, The Don, sitting in Croke Park that is going to make a killing from this?

STB

Lapin wrote: »

What games are being 'shut down' to domestic audiences ?

Name one.


Just one.

14 games are EXCLUSIVELY on Pay only TV. The rights of viewing the National ALL Ireland Chamionships should be open to ALL people on this Island, not just those that can afford it.

Lapin wrote: »

Not quite 'all things'.

With two All Ireland medals, a league title, six All Stars as a player and a further All Ireland and two leagues for Tipp as a manager, I would say the GAA and English have a very good history !

I dont think Michael Hogan (also a Tipp man) would have agreed with that.

windy shepard henderson

County rebel wrote: »

With TV3 out of the picture now will RTE have coverage of the minor finals on all Ireland final day ?

tg4 i believe will step in to cover the minor finals as part of the new package i think

Frankie Lee

STB wrote: »

14 games are EXCLUSIVELY on Pay only TV. The rights of viewing the National ALL Ireland Chamionships should be open to ALL people on this Island, not just those that can afford it.

Should entrance to said games be made free too?

STB

Frankie Lee wrote: »

Should entrance to said games be made free too?

And what the feck has that to do with the right to view a national amateur pastime ?

corny

Haven't heard one cogent argument that convinces me this is the shocking idea the RTE machine would have us believe. Its just not a big deal tbh. If SKY offer more than the rest, they do a good job and the proceeds are ploughed back into the association where's the downside? The people who matter to the GAA will probably be at the game anyway.

Hopefully SKY do a decent job, get good viewing figures and come back in a couple of years time to put RTE to the sword.

Stinicker

Sky Sports costs €87/month on a 12 month contract so €1,044 if a person wants to follow their GAA county. I will ever again pay Club membership over this or give the GAA a single penny.

There is now two organizations, one which has its rural, grass roots, Nationalistic Irish pride and another which wears a suit and wants everything to be about Money and if their sell-out of Croke Park wasn't bad enough now they have a British Company over here in Ireland with exclusive rights to show our national game.

BskyB has a million and a half subscribers in Ireland and pays not one red cent in VAT to the Irish exchequer and 20% of every payments goes to the British Treasury in Westminster.

There was a day when the GAA was something to be proud of and something that unified the nation in very dark times. They are sell-out's and quite frankly traitors to all the great men and women who went before them to build what was a great organisation.

lertsnim

Frankie Lee wrote: »

Should entrance to said games be made free too?

What a stupid argument to put forward. Well done.

callaway92

Stinicker wrote: »

Sky Sports costs €87/month on a 12 month contract so €1,044 if a person wants to follow their GAA county. I will ever again pay Club membership over this or give the GAA a single penny.

There is now two organizations, one which has its rural, grass roots, Nationalistic Irish pride and another which wears a suit and wants everything to be about Money and if their sell-out of Croke Park wasn't bad enough now they have a British Company over here in Ireland with exclusive rights to show our national game.

BskyB has over half a million subscribers in Ireland pays not one red cent in VAT to the Irish exchequer and 20% of every payments goes to the British Treasury in Westminster.

There was a day when the GAA was something to be proud of and something that unified the nation in very dark times. They are sell-out's and quite frankly traitors to all the great men and women who went before them to build what was a great organisation.

Strange. My package including Sky Sports (all channels other than Movies) is €70 all in when I'm not getting any deals.

You sir are being ripped off or are pulling numbers out of your arse

Dyr

What the hell are we doing handing the GAA millions in tax payers money while they pull a stroke like this?


They're funding next year should be in single figures. if they want to play the market they may do it on their own dollar

Dubliner28

RIP Gaa #graballaccosiation

yop

corny wrote: »

Haven't heard one cogent argument that convinces me this is the shocking idea the RTE machine would have us believe. Its just not a big deal tbh. If SKY offer more than the rest, they do a good job and the proceeds are ploughed back into the association where's the downside? The people who matter to the GAA will probably be at the game anyway.

Hopefully SKY do a decent job, get good viewing figures and come back in a couple of years time to put RTE to the sword.

Up to a point yes, but games "all in" are a costly thing to families, my mother doesn't travel to the games in Croker for that exact reason, she is as big a Mayo fan as I know and the ONLY reason she doesn't go is that since they are both pensioners my Dad is the only one been able to go.
With this now she will not see any of the Mayo games on Sky.

There are many people around me who don't go, but would always watch Mayo on the TV.

Stinicker

callaway92 wrote: »

Strange. My package including Sky Sports (all channels other than Movies) is €70 all in when I'm not getting any deals.

You sir are being ripped off or are pulling numbers out of your arse

€36/month Entertainment Extra Pack
€36/month Sky Sports Subscription
€15/month for High Def pack

You paying €70 a month is the one who is getting ripped off because I won't pay Sky a penny and seeing them grab the GAA makes me more determined to ensure they never see a penny from me again.

Lapin

STB wrote: »

14 games are EXCLUSIVELY on Pay only TV. The rights of viewing the National ALL Ireland Chamionships should be open to ALL people on this Island, not just those that can afford it.

There's a dfference between not paying to watch a game on TV and having it 'shut down' to domestic audiences.

And why exactly should the games be free to view. What makes the GAA different from other sports in this regard?

I'm actually looking forward to RTÉ getting some serious competition at last.

No disprespect to TG4 and TV3 but they could never put it up to the national broadcaster.

Hopefully this move will put it up to them and shake off their traditionally reverential and parochial attitude to the sport.

yop

callaway92 wrote: »

Strange. My package including Sky Sports (all channels other than Movies) is €70 all in when I'm not getting any deals.

You sir are being ripped off or are pulling numbers out of your arse

Maybe has HD package also?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

WesternZulu wrote: »

How is it greed?
Who is the fat cat, The Don, sitting in Croke Park that is going to make a killing from this?

When you force Tim from Kildare or Paddy from Kerry to pay to see their team play in the Championship it is pure greed, they could have given 100's/1,000's of hours of their time to this organisation over the years and now they're expected to pay Sky for the privilege of watching their county on tv. It isn't fair in my opinion.

They will have no choice but to start paying inter county players the further along the Championship on pay per view tv road we go.

mikeym

So basically if you subscribe to Sky and dont have the sports channels you will have to pay €36 a month on top of what your paying already to watch the exclusive Gaa matches on Sky Sports 3.

yop

mikeym wrote: »

So basically if you subscribe to Sky and dont have the sports channels you will have to pay €36 a month on top of what your paying already to watch the exclusive Gaa matches on Sky Sports 3.

Correct.

Frankie Lee

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

When you force Tim from Kildare or Paddy from Kerry to pay to see their team play in the Championship it is pure greed, they could have given 100's/1,000's of hours of their time to this organisation over the years and now they're expected to pay Sky for the privilege of watching their county on tv. It isn't fair in my opinion.

What about volunteers at the local rugby club giving the equivalent time and then having their beloved provincial games being on Sky or the FAI selling the rights of the LOI(almost as amateur as the GAA) to Setanta? I don't see why the GAA should be held to higher standards with detrimental effects on the growth of the game.

munchkin_utd

Stinicker wrote: »

€36/month Entertainment Extra Pack
€36/month Sky Sports Subscription
€15/month for High Def pack

You paying €70 a month is the one who is getting ripped off because I won't pay Sky a penny and seeing them grab the GAA makes me more determined to ensure they never see a penny from me again.

It's available for a fiver a month on the sky sports app so substantially less than €70

lertsnim

mikeym wrote: »

So basically if you subscribe to Sky and dont have the sports channels you will have to pay €36 a month on top of what your paying already to watch the exclusive Gaa matches on Sky Sports 3.

Or go and find someone who has Sky Sports and watch it at their house. At least that's what Liam O Neill suggested tonight on the news.

seligehgit

Yurt wrote: »

If you don't have Sky Sports you can download the Sky TV App to watch their GAA coverage. It's about €6 a month

Is that the sum total???

questionmark?

Stinicker wrote: »

Sky Sports costs €87/month on a 12 month contract so €1,044 if a person wants to follow their GAA county. I will ever again pay Club membership over this or give the GAA a single penny.
.

callaway92 wrote: »

Strange. My package including Sky Sports (all channels other than Movies) is €70 all in when I'm not getting any deals.

You sir are being ripped off or are pulling numbers out of your arse

Jasus lads yer both getting ripped off. Just checked their website. The entertainment package and sports package costs €64.

corny

Frankie Lee wrote: »

What about volunteers at the local rugby club giving the equivalent time and then having their beloved provincial games being on Sky or the FAI selling the rights of the LOI(almost as amateur as the GAA) to Setanta? I don't see why the GAA should be held to higher standards with detrimental effects on the growth of the game.

Excellent argument.

Cosmo Kramer

Very progressive announcement from the GAA today and it is to be applauded. I am looking forward to at least some of the championship games being promoted by a broadcaster who will do them justice and not run them down at every opportunity like RTE do (in complete contrast to their rugby coverage). The Sky coverage may even result in RTE upping their game - it wouldn't be hard to improve on what we get at the moment.

Irish people's sense of entitlement to things they have become accustomed to over the years is on display once again in this thread - there is no justifiable reason why all games should be free to view - the law only covers finals which will always be on free to air TV.

It will also be very interesting to see how the RTE Digital international online broadcast of games operates - presumably there will be a season ticket style fee for overseas viewers? Not a problem provided the technology is put in place to handle the demand. This will be a big improvement on the previously available options - particularly in the US.

Stinicker wrote: »

Sky Sports costs €87/month on a 12 month contract so €1,044 if a person wants to follow their GAA county.

You don't have to take HD. Also - you could just take the mobile versions for 6 quid a month. You don't have to keep it up all year round. Plenty of cost cutting options.

Stinicker wrote: »

I will ever again pay Club membership over this or give the GAA a single penny.

Plenty of this kind of chat going around today. I'm sure the ridiculous uproar will die down in a couple of days and we will all get back to normal.

Stinicker wrote: »

There is now two organizations, one which has its rural, grass roots, Nationalistic Irish pride and another which wears a suit and wants everything to be about Money and if their sell-out of Croke Park wasn't bad enough now they have a British Company over here in Ireland with exclusive rights to show our national game.

Hopelessly outdated xenophobic stuff. Funnily enough most of the matches in question are being taken from TV3 who, ironically, are also a British company. So why the nationalistic hate for Sky but not TV3 - because the only difference between them I can see is that with Sky you have to pay to watch the games?

windy shepard henderson

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Very progressive announcement from the GAA today and it is to be applauded. I am looking forward to at least some of the championship games being promoted by a broadcaster who will do them justice and not run them down at every opportunity like RTE do (in complete contrast to their rugby coverage). The Sky coverage may even result in RTE upping their game - it wouldn't be hard to improve on what we get at the moment.

Irish people's sense of entitlement to things they have become accustomed to over the years is on display once again in this thread - there is no justifiable reason why all games should be free to view - the law only covers finals which will always be on free to air TV.

It will also be very interesting to see how the RTE Digital international online broadcast of games operates - presumably there will be a season ticket style fee for overseas viewers? Not a problem provided the technology is put in place to handle the demand. This will be a big improvement on the previously available options - particularly in the US.

You don't have to take HD. Also - you could just take the mobile versions for 6 quid a month. You don't have to keep it up all year round. Plenty of cost cutting options.

Plenty of this kind of chat going around today. I'm sure the ridiculous uproar will die down in a couple of days and we will all get back to normal.

Hopelessly outdated xenophobic stuff. Funnily enough most of the matches in question are being taken from TV3 who, ironically, are also a British company. So why the nationalistic hate for Sky but not TV3 - because the only difference between them I can see is that with Sky you have to pay to watch the games?

nobody seems to care about setanta and what they have done with the league , why?...................because everyone thinks they are irish?........so why are they based in kirkaldy in east scotland? .........i doubt they pay too much to the irish exchequer either

priemer sports showed just as many games as sky last year that were unavailable to irish viewers and again no one complained in fact all sky did was buy out there contract

atleast this year we might get a chance to see dublin v kilkenny or clare v wexford or any football or hurling qualifier that we were denied from watching last year

and more to the point for all those abroad who might get the chance to see there county play without having to get up at 6 in the morning and head to the pub where they will be charged an illeagal sum of money to enter

i agree with you above and not with this sell out rubbish , it will be intresting to see how it works out

donegal11

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Give the international rights to the highest (or any) bidder in the UK, US, Oz ect. so they can reach as big an audience as possible. It is nothing but pure greed that the GAA are putting Championship games behind a pay wall in Ireland though. For an organisation that relies on volunteers and amateur players to run itself this deal strikes me as a silly road for them to go down.

Tv3 offered decent/similar money but apparently the opportunity to go with sky is to test the water into the future meaning the whole championship could go behind the paywall if the price is right.

Dyr

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Very progressive announcement from the GAA today and it is to be applauded. I am looking forward to at least some of the championship games being promoted by a broadcaster who will do them justice and not run them down at every opportunity like RTE do (in complete contrast to their rugby coverage). The Sky coverage may even result in RTE upping their game - it wouldn't be hard to improve on what we get at the moment.

Irish people's sense of entitlement to etc etc

aaaand standard self loathing paddy whacking from there on

Frankie Lee

One thing I am slightly concerned about is who sky will use to commentate, hopefully they will be able to recruit someone decent but at present there are not too many decent GAA commentators out there.

Debtocracy

I would assume that peoples’ positivity to this decision is that it adds values to their sky subscription, thereby reducing cognitive dissonance about whether to pay for this costly service. Can’t say I’ve meet a person yet without a sky subscription who’s happy forking out ~€70 a month so that their club might get a new football from the proceeds of the deal.

bruschi

some of the arguments here and the over exaggeration of the situation is amazing. People saying they wont pay their club membership over 14 games being on sky. What about the other 45 games or so that arent being shown at all on any station? why arent people whinging about not being able to see them either?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Frankie Lee wrote: »

What about volunteers at the local rugby club giving the equivalent time and then having their beloved provincial games being on Sky or the FAI selling the rights of the LOI(almost as amateur as the GAA) to Setanta? I don't see why the GAA should be held to higher standards with detrimental effects on the growth of the game.

A solid argument can be made that the Rugby provinces need the money to keep the best players in the country, they pay professional wages and need to maximise all revenue streams. All games involving Ireland are shown free to air.

With the FAI there's a few points, one is that Setanta only show games in their own 'custom' competition, the Setanta Cup, so all Setanta are really doing is bringing more Irish football to football fans. You also have a situation where RTE only show 20 league games per season, if Setanta came in and offered to show additional games to RTE's 20 than it'd be good for Irish football. I'm dead against the FAI handing over the Irish international friendlies exclusively to Sky which has been happening for a few years now.

I say this as someone who has Sky in my home.

bruschi

Debtocracy wrote: »

I would assume that peoples’ positivity to this decision is that it adds values to their sky subscription, thereby reducing cognitive dissonance about whether to pay for this costly service. Can’t say I’ve meet a person yet without a sky subscription who’s happy forking out ~€70 a month so that their club might get a new football from the proceeds of the deal.

I dont have sky, nor do I intend on getting it. Any game I want to see I will attend, and pay to watch. I'm in favour of it. The deal done is great for people abroad who for years have wanted some sort of way to watch games. It also expands our game and creates a wider audience to view what I consider two of the best sports in the world.