04/04/2014 21:50:50
mayotyroneman
Ath Cliath....this is how SKY works...how many english premiership games are shown live on terrestrial TV whereas 20 years ago there was regular live games on BBC and ITV on friday evenings and sunday lunchtime...we had live heineken cup rugby on RTE...how many live heineken cup rugby games on RTE now?...
wake up and smell the coffee...the access of the elderly and children to live games will be gone in a few years time Access will not be gone in a few years time. No need for the OTT hysteria and scaremongering.
04/04/2014 21:59:37
mayotyroneman
time to wake up to the implications of this sordid backhand deal what is sordid about the deal and what was backhand?

05/04/2014 08:14:45
royaldunne
Mayotyroneman. I think you are the one who needs to wake up. Your talking nonsense. What did the elderly do in 1990??? How many games did rte show live that year?? In football 3 how did children or the elderly watch them then? Talk about over reaction. Here's an idea if you want to see your county playing , Go the match . 14 games , yeah its the ruination of gaa. Either talk sense or say nothing at all. But please tell me were you that concerned before 1990 as to how children or the elderly could watch a match??? +1

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 05/04/2014 16:25:13    1570692

The selfishness of some people on here is breathtaking.

No matter that this deal give Gaelic games huge exposure in our nearest potential market.

No matter that the reception from our exiles in the UK are delighted with this initiative.

No matter that the London manager says that this move will have a hugely positive on the profile of Gaelic games in the UK.

No matter that the powers that be in the GAA & the vast majority of players are in favour

No matter that there are still 31 games on RTE.

No matter that there are multiple options for watching the Sky games.


No, none of this matters. If I can't watch the game on free to air then I am not happy. I will raise all sorts of red herrings, inaccuracies & pure fantasy stuff to justify my unhappiness.

Well tough. The deal is done & is going ahead. If it doesn't work to both sides satisfaction then we go back to the free to air model in 3 years time. In the meantime I for one am looking forward to seeing what Sky can do.

For the record I don't have Sky sports & go to both club & county games nearly every Sunday

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 05/04/2014 16:29:11    1570694

05/04/2014 09:05:55 Oldtourman
M.T.M Spot on.
Free to air transmission of major championship matches will be over in 5 years if ordinary supporters do not challenge this. The following are just a few tactics that might be adopted to convey to the powers that be our disgust at the conduct in this matter
(1) not attending club, colleges or ordinary league games. These games currently attract big following from people who are 50 plus and we will be hugely affected in 10 or 15 years time when we are no longer able to travel to matches and will be forced to fork out. 500 or 600 Euro a years to Murdock to view games we have seen for free all our lives
(2) Strongly voicing our concerns regarding this matter to all County Board delegates and main officers at every given opportunity
(3) Withholding the annual subscription of about 100 Euro that many give to Co Board Draws Free to air transmission will not be over. Sky will not be allowed takeover. Not attending club games etc all will not do anything
05/04/2014 09:52:55
croker16
I feel sorry for the average man in their 60's or 70's who played the game for 20-30 years served on committees did umpire, linesman etc for many years. They now have to pay to see some of our games. IMO this is very harsh. The money doesn't filter down to the clubs or county boards maybe the big counties but my club have never received a cent from HQ and we don't even have a county ground either!!! Doubt that your club never got anything from HQ. All clubs do

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 05/04/2014 16:29:20    1570695

05/04/2014 11:40:56 mayotyroneman
juniorbsub you have hit the nail on the head completely...in the grand scheme of thinks gaa will be swallowed up into global minority sports coverage within the SKY schedule. within a few years our major games will be relegated to thursday nights on sky sports 4
the likes of royal dunne lives in the world that pollyanna exists in. there is something special that the gaa currently has. those of us who work tirelessly in our clubs know that through our volunteering we are potentially working with young lads who will go on to represent our clubs and ultimately play for their county. there is something very special in the role county players play within our club. This deal is the thin end of the wedge which will create elitism within the gaa, where county stars no longer have any connection to their club,. and the deal ultimately leads to the professionalisation of the sport. That wont happen where county players connection with their club
Games wont be moved to Thursdays...

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 05/04/2014 16:37:25    1570700

05/04/2014 14:53:20
mayotyroneman
Ath cliath get your facts right...bbc were showing live friday night games in the eighties.....junoiorsub is bang on the money with his post...we are heading for franchises dominating gaelic games...and the game schedule being dictated by sky executives...remember the outcry about froiday night games from players and supporters...well thats what we're heading for...sky will put pressure on the gaa hierarchy to introduce pay per play to appease the GPA outcry about players having to play fridays...whats choice are the gaa left with..accept the pressure from SKY and the GPA...and professionalism is introduced through the back door There will not be franchises dominating GAA..

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 05/04/2014 16:39:50    1570702

Hold the phone here a minute. People talking about what Sky has in mind for Gaelic Games by 2020 need to cop on to themselves. Sky are only testing the water with this deal, same as what the GAA are doing. They're not trying to franchise our games or anything. It's a 3 year experiment. It's an unknown venture which may well go pear-shaped & all the doomsday preppers can then happily crawl back under their proverbial rocks.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 05/04/2014 16:44:40    1570706

Muckross, these people feel that they shouldnt have to pay a foreign corporation to watch our games, and I believe that theyre right.
This stuff about boosting gaelic games in Britain and raising the profile of our games etc. is just a load of rhetoric, and I cant believe that people like yourself are falling for it.
Sky, and the GAA, saw an opportunity to make more money out of ordinary people and they have decided to take it.

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 05/04/2014 16:46:25    1570707

joncarter
County: Galway
Posts: 968

1570707
Muckross, these people feel that they shouldnt have to pay a foreign corporation to watch our games, and I believe that theyre right.
This stuff about boosting gaelic games in Britain and raising the profile of our games etc. is just a load of rhetoric, and I cant believe that people like yourself are falling for it.
Sky, and the GAA, saw an opportunity to make more money out of ordinary people and they have decided to take it.

No harm to you Jon but your post is exactly the sort of thing I am talking about when it comes to red herrings.

This is NOT about money. The GAA themselves have sais that they will receive little more than they got in the last deal & indeed it is thought that TV3 made a very competitive bid & are most unhappy that they didn't get it.

So if it isn't for the money why was the deal done especially when it leaves some people without access to games? The obvious answer is that it was done to extend coverage in the UK where many Irish people & people of Irish descent live.

As for talk about "foreign corporations", spare me. Vodafone are foreign & nobody bleats about them. I am sick sore & tired of the insular mentality of some in the GAA about "foreign corporations", "other codes" etc etc.

I couldn't care less where Sky are based as long as they deliver on what the GAA wants them to do. If they don't then the deal is a temporary one & will end in 3 years.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 05/04/2014 17:15:26    1570712

Didn't mean to sound too old fashioned, but these are our games and we shouldn't have to pay Sky to watch them, end of story.
I do hope that this new deal will improve the profile of the GAA and will be good for it promotion wise, but I still think its a load of hot air, and I for one am not buying it.
Sky have done their research, they have deduced that Irish people love the GAA, and will be willing to pay extra money to watch it, and so have bought the rights to it, with the aim of getting people to part with that money.

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 05/04/2014 17:30:41    1570717

joncarter
County: Galway
Posts: 970

1570717
Didn't mean to sound too old fashioned, but these are our games and we shouldn't have to pay Sky to watch them, end of story.
Fair enough but it's not as if Gaa is off limits to those who don't have Sky Sports. We are talking about 11 games here.

I do hope that this new deal will improve the profile of the GAA and will be good for it promotion wise, but I still think its a load of hot air.
You may well be right, time will tell. If it doesn't work then we can revert to the status quo & no harm done. But surely it's worth a punt.

Sky have done their research, they have deduced that Irish people love the GAA, and will be willing to pay extra money to watch it, and so have bought the rights to it, with the aim of getting people to part with that money.
There we agree 100%, but I have no problem with that. Sky are a business not a charity. But if they give us what we want from the deal then I don't mind them making a buck out of it.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 05/04/2014 18:35:53    1570763

mayotyroneman
County: Tyrone
Posts: 1120

1570664 Ath cliath get your facts right...bbc were showing live friday night games in the eighties.....junoiorsub is bang on the money with his post...we are heading for franchises dominating gaelic games...and the game schedule being dictated by sky executives...remember the outcry about froiday night games from players and supporters...well thats what we're heading for...sky will put pressure on the gaa hierarchy to introduce pay per play to appease the GPA outcry about players having to play fridays...whats choice are the gaa left with..accept the pressure from SKY and the GPA...and professionalism is introduced through the back door

You said twenty years ago, 1994 isn't the eighties? there was limited soccer on fri in the eighties so stop peddling porkies to help your doomsday scenario. Not one current soccer supporter would like to go back to pre sky days.
Im not pro Sky, but I am pro publicity of the games I love ,proper competition between channels,expats getting option of better coverage and and More GAA on tv , but all that doesn't matter because you and a couple of others on here have latched onto Skys deadly plan for world domination and sure in a couple of years the Gaa will sell them crokepark , all live games and just be grateful to be mentioned on their channels.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 05/04/2014 19:38:39    1570784

Muckross post ends this debate. And while some may have misgivings about this muck and many others are spot on. Stop the hairy fairy made up doomsday scenarios. They ain't believed

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 05/04/2014 20:19:22    1570798

mayotyroneman
County: Tyrone
Posts: 1120

we are heading for franchises dominating gaelic games...and the game schedule being dictated by sky executives...sky will put pressure on the gaa hierarchy to introduce pay per play to appease the GPA outcry about players having to play fridays...whats choice are the gaa left with..accept the pressure from SKY and the GPA...and professionalism is introduced through the back door

How are sky going to dictate anything to the GAA? Where is their leverage? The present agreement lasts for 3 years & can't be changed during those 3 years, contracts have been signed.

And since the money being paid by Sky is little better than what was on offer from TV3 it is the GAA that holds all the aces. If the GAA don't like the terms of any new deal they can just walk away with no loss of revenue risked.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 05/04/2014 20:20:59    1570799

mayotyroneman
County: Tyrone
1570664 Ath cliath get your facts right...bbc were showing live friday night games in the eighties.....junoiorsub is bang on the money with his post...we are heading for franchises dominating gaelic games...and the game schedule being dictated by sky executives...remember the outcry about froiday night games from players and supporters...well thats what we're heading for...sky will put pressure on the gaa hierarchy to introduce pay per play to appease the GPA outcry about players having to play fridays...whats choice are the gaa left with..accept the pressure from SKY and the GPA...and professionalism is introduced through the back door

I'm also pretty disappointed that this deal with Sky was done, but I don't think it'll lead to the introduction of franchises in GAA, or anything like that. That implies that Sky are interested in catering to an audience that currently don't watch the GAA, and thats not the case. I'd imagine this deal for Sky is all about its viewership in Ireland, and (as other posters have stated) keeping up their Sky Sports subscriptions up during the summer months, while the English Premiership is on break. I don't believe its anything to do with selling the games in Britain, to natives or diaspora, its all about the Irish market.
And in the Irish 'market' (sigh, everything ends up being nickle'd and dime'd), Gaelic games and the GAA already have huge support. Change what it is, and that support might diminish. And thats the crux of the debate I think. Does this deal with Sky change what the GAA essentially is? Personally, I think this deal is out of whack with what the type of organisation the GAA is, but that's just me. The GAA obviously is different things to different people. To some, its a cultural and communtity organisation, as much as a sporting one, and one with a particular ethos and philosophy. To others, its not. And alot of younger people have grown up now amidst the ubiquity of Sky and Sky Sports, and may not see virtue in something unless its framed in that media organisations particular type of narrative.

So, we'll see how it works out. Personally, I think alot of people will have a curiosity for how Sky will do this, but I'm not expecting the wheel to be re-invented. I think the initial novelty might be short-lived.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 05/04/2014 20:44:40    1570813

Can all the worst-case scenario psychics here please post this summers weather forecast. I want to book my holidays and don't want them to clash with the games on the free-to-air TV that I'm paying €160 per annum for.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7346 - 05/04/2014 21:19:35    1570822

One thing to say.

Do not go to another gaa game at any level or code.

Pay them nothing and see how they like it.

I'll never step inside a gaa ground again.

JeremyWendell (Limerick) - Posts: 232 - 06/04/2014 12:59:15    1570921

link

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 06/04/2014 13:11:39    1570924

Brilliant article in the Examiner by Donal Óg Cusack:

link

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 06/04/2014 13:26:02    1570930

JeremyWendell
County: Limerick
Posts: 167


I'll never step inside a gaa ground again.

It won't be the same without you Jeremy.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 06/04/2014 13:41:02    1570933

keeper7
County: Longford
Posts: 1877

1570930
Brilliant article in the Examiner by Donal Óg Cusack:

link

As the old saying goes "I couldn't have put it better myself".

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 06/04/2014 13:46:35    1570934