The GAA just seem a little bit more savvy when it comes to money. You had the IRFU spunking over 3 million on a pitiful pitch to host a âWorld Cupâ. Their pitch was laughed out the door. They started lashing out at the Welsh and South Africans rather than look at their own shortcomings.
Thatâs nothing to do with selling the rights of games to Sky.
Sports have been doing that for years, with international competition and professionalism driving that.
The GGA, an amateur organisation, decided to do so a few years ago and lied to everyone about the reasons why.
If as you allege, they told lies, who has it impacted and how?
I just posted them. Many people canât watch games that were previously FTA. Sky enjoyed 2 Exclusive Quarter Finals, games previously on Free Television.
A supposedly community based organisation did this all under the guise of âspreading the game to the UK and Australiaâ. Thatâs what the GGA president said at the time. Few scrutinized what a lie that was. Sky bought the games for Irish subscribers.
Arenât you an ardent right wing capitalist zealot? Surely you applaud the GAAâs money making ability?
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They werenât quarter finals Tim.
You seem to be under the misguided impression that all GAA games were free to air prior to selling rights to Sky.
The GGA are a not for profit, supposedly community based and amateur organisation.
They had absolutely no need to sell to Sky Sports beyond greed and a few of their central admin wanting the prestige of being on Sky over TV3.
I thought greed was good?
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Yes they were.
TV3 lost their package to the AI to Sky. That included AI quarter finals and provincial games.
There is less FTA and less games of âqualityâ now available due to the Sky Deal.
That is a fact.
Actually Julio, even if that was a coherent argument when we are talking about amateur organizations, it actually doesnât tell the whole story.
Plenty of sports sacrifice cash to stay FTA, for long term value. The GGA has absolutely no need to be on Sky.
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How much is the Sky deal worth?
Was about âŹ500k extra a year. Buttons really.
They are not quarter finals, they are round robin games. They are less attractive than knock out games for obvious reasons. Iâm not sure what your issue is here. Which people do you think are impacted by Sky showing these games?
You could get that from a ref engineering a replay in fairness.
The GAA should start live streaming.
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I think you misunderstand what a not for profit organisation is
A not for profit organisation still has to try and generate as much revenue as possible, the point is what it does with it
Under your understanding of ânot for profitâ, All-Ireland final tickets would be free of charge
I have no clue how the GGA organizes their competitions now as they change their stuff regularly, but it is an absolute fact that there were Q Finals exclusively on Sky Sports that were previously FTA.
You missed the rest.
It is a not for profit, amateur organisation.
Not only that, but it has a monopoly on its games.
Compare to soccer. International game. International leagues. Professionals demanding money. What is less than a 1% revenue gain (which is what Sky was) would make a difference in that sport competing. Not the GGA.
Rugby similar, to a lesser extent.
The ECB, who went off the wall and shot themselves in the foot by removing their live games entirely from FTA, had that same problem.
Your understanding of not for profit is a bit limited here. You would never charge nothing for the AI Final. There is a cost of having an asset like CP. There is a cost of having stewards. There is a cost to everything there.
The GGA got on absolutely fine with RTĂ and TV3 showing games. They got greedy and wanted a bit of prestige. The wider public will suffer when sports go behind a pay wall, for a supposedly community org it is absolutely unacceptable that they did so.
There was one round robin game on at the weekend that neutrals would have any interest in. RTE had it.
All-Ireland final tickets generate revenue, which leads to profit
If thereâs no profit, if there are no sponsors, thereâs no stadium
The GAA are fully entitled to generate revenue and profit any way they wish, to be ploughed back into the grass roots and/or infrastructure
The vast, vast majority of GAA games on TV are free to air on RTE or TG4, which is not the case with rugby which has largely switched to a pay TV model