GAA moneygrabbing

Given the recent controversies around the Garth Brooks concerts and selling GAA games to sky, it seems the GAA has been exposed as money grubbing swine who gluttonise themselves at the trough of avarice.

Agree or disagree?

Croke Park has been used as a concert venue for years. If Garth Brooks sells it out 5 nights in a row that means that all fans who want to go can go. The GAA get paid for hire as any venue would do. I see no issue.

The a Sky deal is a tricky one. If the money is redistributed and invested at a grassroots level then it's great. It will provide more exposure and coverage for the growth of the game.
I'm working in England and can't get watching the games every Sunday due to broadcasting rights. The sky deal will be a Godsend for a lot of people.
If they're taking the games previously contracted to TV3 then again the GAA folk of the north have trouble picking up a signal for it as well.

If the money isn't reinvested them the troubles arise. If it's used to fatten the wallets of the bigwigs then the people will not be happy. Obviously some people cannot afford sky tv and will struggle to watch unless they head to a friends or the pub.

For me I don't see the need for a full blown character assassination of the GAA just yet. I'm willing to see how it plays out and with a big player like Sky broadcasting I can see potentially huge benefits for the popularity and growth of the games I love. As long as done correctly.

GAA have always loved money grabbing. The reaction has been hilarious. A good portion of the games they have wouldn't have been shown live in the first place!


If you want to spread the game outside of Ireland, and you should, this is a pretty big step.

My biggest beef on the GAA TV coverage is the fact that a huge chunk of the TV coverage - League, Under 21 and Club Games are broadcast in a language i, and a big majority of the population, can't understand.

Maybe the GAA can use some of the Sky money to teach these TG4 fellas how to speak English......................

The GAA is a uniquely Irish thing as is our language. That's why they are committed to it, and it will remain like that. It's a good thing in my opinion

Who gets the rights to replays?

From an "outsider" point of view, I for one am glad that games will be available over here.  Dave - from what I can tell of the deal, highlights remain as is:

Within Ireland, a total of 45 provincial and All-Ireland championship matches will be broadcast live on television annually for the next three years: a total of 31 games will be shown by RTÉ (as per the last contract) and 14 by Sky Sports.  The 31 championship games to be televised by RTÉ include the All-Ireland finals and semi-finals in both codes, the All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals, and two of the four All-Ireland football quarter-finals.

RTÉ have also secured the rights to all six Provincial championship finals, while the remainder of the 31 games to be shown live on RTÉ are a mixture of provincial championship and qualifier games. Ulster championship games covered by RTÉ, including the Provincial football final, will also be broadcast on BBC Northern Ireland.  

Sky Sports has obtained exclusive Island of Ireland rights to 14 championship games.  These consist of eight Saturday evening matches in the All-Ireland qualifiers, two All-Ireland football championship quarter-finals, and two Saturday evening and two Sunday provincial championship games. In addition to these 14 games, Sky Sports will also broadcast live the All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals, thus making 20 live games available to its subscribers throughout Britain and Ireland.  All games broadcast on Sky and the majority on RTÉ will be shown in HD.

The GAA’s commitment to the support of the Irish language is reflected in TG4’s retention of Sunday afternoon Allianz League matches. TG4 has also been awarded coverage of the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor finals, bringing them back to Croke Park on the GAA’s two biggest days, and will again cover AIB Club Championships, the Irish Daily Mail Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups, Masita All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools competitions, the Cadbury U21 Football Championship, Bord Gáis Energy U21 Hurling Championship and county finals. It is anticipated that TG4 will again cover 62 live and 22 deferred games in each of the three years. Setanta Sports will continue to broadcast Saturday evening Allianz Leagues games.

While the award of domestic TV broadcast rights will see over 90 live games shown free-to-air within Ireland in each of the next three years, the GAA has also delivered on its promise to address access to its major games for those living outside of Ireland. In addition to Sky Sports providing exclusive live coverage of 20 championship matches in Britain, in a major new departure, Channel 7 will show all 45 live championship games free to air in Australia.

A further exciting expansion of coverage for Irish people living abroad is reflected in a new online streaming service – a joint venture between the GAA and RTÉ Digital – which will allow supporters living in the U.S and worldwide access to all games televised live in Ireland via the internet on PC, desktops, laptops, tablets, smart phones and other connected devices.

Long shot query.

This area of 606 doesn't seem to get much traffic but it's GAA centric so someone might see this and might miraculously have the answer.

Last week's RTE coverage (Sunday Game Live - 25th May) of the Cork Waterford hurling game was preceded by a short film during which a song played in the background. Couldn't get any of the lyrics to do a search so does anyone reading this know the song I'm refering to and know the title?

Croke Park has been used as a concert venue for years. If Garth Brooks sells it out 5 nights in a row that means that all fans who want to go can go. The GAA get paid for hire as any venue would do. I see no issue.

The a Sky deal is a tricky one. If the money is redistributed and invested at a grassroots level then it's great. It will provide more exposure and coverage for the growth of the game.
I'm working in England and can't get watching the games every Sunday due to broadcasting rights. The sky deal will be a Godsend for a lot of people.
If they're taking the games previously contracted to TV3 then again the GAA folk of the north have trouble picking up a signal for it as well.

If the money isn't reinvested them the troubles arise. If it's used to fatten the wallets of the bigwigs then the people will not be happy. Obviously some people cannot afford sky tv and will struggle to watch unless they head to a friends or the pub.

For me I don't see the need for a full blown character assassination of the GAA just yet. I'm willing to see how it plays out and with a big player like Sky broadcasting I can see potentially huge benefits for the popularity and growth of the games I love. As long as done correctly.



______________________
Johni Imtiaz..!!