hill16no1man
County: Dublin
Posts: 7260

1571984
the bottom line is why should the real supporters the ones who go to support their own county and pay in
then be the ones forced to pay if they want to watch another match on tv the weekend their own county is not playing?
just to suit people who left the country or have always lived in another country and dont pay in week in week out.

Hill,
We have been paying to watch games here in the US since the early 90's. We have spent years developing the games with non-irish players who have to travel hours by plane to compete in the North American Championships, they pay for their own flights and hotels to do so. When they get there they have to actually pay in to the tournament they are playing in. In some cases just to get competitive games prior to the championship we have to drive 8 hours to the nearest team.
Now I know your response might include some jibe about all the players being paid to play in the US, well before that happens let me explain that only happens in select teams in the big cities like Chicago, Boston, San Fran. There are thousands of American born players in teams all over the country promoting and loving our National sports. Most clubs like that only have a handful of Irish lads trying to grow the games here and get so much out of watching non Irish learn and compete in our sports. And by the way, we will have to continue to pay to see the games over here as we did not get the same deal as in Australia. We have to join a subscription on line service set up by the GAA and RTE and we still have no idea what that will cost us yet.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 07/04/2014 22:00:30    1572083

the gaa heads say, the deal wasn't because of money, that there wasn't much difference between sky and tv3 bid?
so how come some gaa officials are saying the deal is good for the grass-routes of the gaa?
who is lying?

kerryluck (Kerry) - Posts: 2517 - 08/04/2014 08:55:16    1572090

kerryluck
County: Kerry
Posts: 2044

1572090
the gaa heads say, the deal wasn't because of money, that there wasn't much difference between sky and tv3 bid?
so how come some gaa officials are saying the deal is good for the grass-routes of the gaa?
who is lying?

Money isn't the only thing that can be of benefit to the grass roots. The grass roots in Britain think this will be of great benefit.

So maybe nobody is lying & you just got the wrong end of the stick.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 08/04/2014 09:55:12    1572109

MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 2355

1572109
kerryluck
County: Kerry
Posts: 2044

1572090
the gaa heads say, the deal wasn't because of money, that there wasn't much difference between sky and tv3 bid?
so how come some gaa officials are saying the deal is good for the grass-routes of the gaa?
who is lying?

Money isn't the only thing that can be of benefit to the grass roots. The grass roots in Britain think this will be of great benefit.

So maybe nobody is lying & you just got the wrong end of the stick.

these officals were speaking about the grass-routes in ireland , there own counties? if its not money, how does it benefit their own counties at grass-route level?

kerryluck (Kerry) - Posts: 2517 - 08/04/2014 14:28:47    1572306

kerry

You would need to show me the quote that you are referring to.

I haven't seen anyone talk about the grassroots specifically in Ireland as opposed to overseas & I think it would be an awful pity if that sort of parochialism was to be seen from the leaders of the GAA.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 08/04/2014 14:55:59    1572339

The quality of TV3s coverage was awful anyway in my opinion mainly the picture quality. Should the sky deal lead to a greater saturization of the game and a greater product on show then I believe it's a good deal. Skys production values on all of their programmes is of exemplary quality and I have no doubt this will continue with its coverage of the Gaa. This broadens the gaas scope far more in the U.K. than games against the likes of Leitrim and Sligo in Ruislip ever could. The same arguements were put forward when the Heineken cup went to sky and that tournament has only gotten stronger( only now to be dismanted because of a bidding war with BT). Id hope the Gaa can move in the same direction too.

glantine.guard (Limerick) - Posts: 33 - 08/04/2014 15:19:29    1572361

Dubfan Abroad
im not against people abroad getting to see the matches dont take me up wrong
my point is the gaa are putting them people ahead of the people who support inter county week in week out
the people who are funding the inter county competitions in favour of people abroad
in my book thats very unfair.
if a deal can be done that people in australia can watch every game regardless of sky or rte rights for free
theres something wrong if the people of ireland cannot do the same where the games are played.
also shocked that nobody has put it to the gaa about the fact there is far bigger market in america then britain for dispora interested in gaa

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 08/04/2014 15:20:57    1572364

Interesting take on the deal here:

link

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 08/04/2014 15:23:40    1572368

I understand your points Hill, but I just want to make it clear that people in the US have always paid to watch the games. We will still have to pay when they finally announce the subscription service online. We don't even know how much yet and we have a sneaking suspition that it wont be any better value than how Setanta/Premium Sports ripped us off. We can only hope for a better service.

On another point,the teams outside the big Irish cities have been ignored over here for a long time not just by the GAA in Ireland but also by our own county board the NACB. The GAA and the GPA completely ignored the Trojan work that was done here over the years to grow Hurling and Gaelic football when the brought over that ridiculous hybrid game Super 11's to Notre Dame. They did not speak with us or consult as to what we had been doing over here. They did not care that we have turned Hurling into one of the fastest growing sports in the US, that there has been an inter collegiate hurling league set up now with the help of clubs in many Universities like University of Indianna, Berkley, Stanford, CU Colorado. They are finally waking up to the fact that the future here is not with bringing players over from Ireland but in the grass roots teams like Milwaukee which has over 300 members 95% of which are American born, Denver with over 120 members with the same percentage American born. There are 4 teams in Texas that are huge and loaded with both American and Irish players that have set up there own leagues. Headquarters in Croke Park are only now understanding what has been done here now with little or no help from them.
So I think you can understand that the GAA is probably also doing a really poor job of informing people at home about how huge the games are over here and quickly they are growing.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 08/04/2014 15:48:23    1572415

dubfanabroad

they have looked after australia and britian in this deal and not america it seems.
but they have looked after both them areas at the expense of ireland the country where 31 of the 33 teams in the compeition
will play. I would imagine there is far more scope in hitting america for exposure then britian if that is as they say there aim considering the massive links between ireland and america culturaly and the fact that far more people already are interested in gaa in america then britain it would have a far bigger chance of taking off to a higher level.
throw in the fact that america has a population of 314 million as oppossed to 63 million in the uk.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 08/04/2014 16:04:14    1572434

Dubfan Abroad - I think its a bit unfair to say that CP were not supporting the NAB, the Munster Council have for a number of years now through the twinning process provided a huge amount of resources. What Croke Park or nobody in Ireland can do is drive it locally and change the mentality of the people on the ground who for too long focused on bringing players over from Ireland rather than develop a grassroots system. That said, I wouldn't deny that a lot of officials and general members of the GAA in Ireland cares about what is going on outside of their own little patch at home - just not all of them, there are a few forward thinking people in the GAA!

Hill16man - people have been moving to the UK from Ireland far longer than they ever went to America. The expression of the shared ancestry with the UK has taken a different path to that in the USA, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. In terms of creating an product to start with, the UK market makes perfect sense given the proximity and time zone. The Australia market is completely different - live games that are on at best 11pm at night and worst 3am - Seven network is completely unrelated to SKY so I am not sure how you say that people in Ireland are being charged so that people in Aus got the games. Here is also the reality the GAA faces - Ireland is a small market for potential sponsors, if they can claim that the games are being viewed globally then the list and money they can get from sponsorship goes up. It could be that in a few years time without the international element, the GAA cannot command the money they need to keep the level on investment in the game at home in order to compete with the other sports. If SKY can package the game and sell it to a relatively willing UK public, then this will be a huge benefit to the GAA in Ireland. This would never happen with Setanta as all they do is reshow the games that they get - I watched the Dublin game the other night in Irish - how is that going to develop the game for an overseas audience? It is obvious from some of the articles I have seen in the paper and on this board that most people are clueless about the work that is going on outside Ireland in promoting the GAA. If they knew the work that was being done they might understand this all a little bit better.

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1805 - 08/04/2014 17:30:54    1572521

zinny
the fact of the matter is they are charging the irish public to allow the british public access
the irish public are already the ones paying into inter county championship games
now there looking for more money off them to watch games not invloving their own county effectively.
I have no problem with prividing access to people living abroad but not at the cost to people who are keeping inter county
as the most popular sport in ireland.
after all why are so many people so intent on wanting other countries particular british nationalists to take note in our games
the gaa has survived through thick and thin for 130 years or so now through a lot of tough financial times and a lot of tough terrorist times,why can people not be proud that it is ours and something we all enjoy it smacks of looking for attention from the neighbours across the pond as if sky are not offering much more money then why didnt they look to bbc in the uk which is a free to air station
and a free to air available in ireland that way you would have been able to give unlimited access both sides of the irish sea
or itv for that matter seen as itv are creating a station in the republic of ireland next year
they already have stations in wales and scotland and england and utv in the north of ireland

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 08/04/2014 17:57:28    1572539

Can somebody please explain to me how this deal gives access to people in Britain to GAA matches that they didn't have before. It is a simple question.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 08/04/2014 20:01:38    1572608

The reason Sky were chosen was because they can broaden the appeal of the game to those people in Britain who claim Irish ancestry but are not really plugged in to the cultural & sporting side of Irishness.
I heard a report on radio last week that said that there were more people claiming Irish blood in Britain than lived on the island of Ireland. Surely it is worth really going after them & building on the great work done by the Association in Britain down the years.

Yes, if anyone wants to see a GAA game in Britain they could have paid to s satellite channel but the coverage was by all accounts very poor. What Sky are good at is selling their coverage to viewers, what they are bringing to the table is their marketing ability & huge reach to sports fans from Lands End to John O'Groats.

Will it work, who knows? It may well turn out that GAA is a bit like Guinness in that it works best in Ireland with the position Gaelic games holds in our society. At least with Sky we will give it a real go.

GAA people in Britain have welcomed the initiative with open arms & are really excited by the possibilities. I feel we owe them the chance to grow & establish themselves & I don't think a small number f live games, most of them back door games, is that big a price for us to pay.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 08/04/2014 20:46:04    1572635

Just to give you a taste of what is happening in colleges in the US. These are mostly non-Irish born players. Gaelic games appeal to Americans, they are high scoring fast and physical.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/ncgaa
This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 08/04/2014 20:46:42    1572638

muckross

but surely bbc or itv would be a far better option as they are in every home in both britain and ireland
where as people still have to pay for sky sports in britian too

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 08/04/2014 21:41:52    1572664

Dubfan

Yeah, its really strange how the growth in hurling in America hasn't gotten much press back home. The way clubs have sprung up around the midwest, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Madison etc, has been really amazing. I've posted videos from Milwaukee's youth training sessions here a few times, its brilliant to see young American kids getting so into hurling. And the University scene has huge potential, it could really take off. That's why I was also disappointed by the Super 11's format that was used for the recent exhibition match in Notre Dame, seemed to ignore the aspects of hurling that were attracting people to it over here.
In any case, if hurling is going to take off anywhere (outside of Ireland), its here.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 08/04/2014 21:45:42    1572669

MuckrossHead have you ever been outside Ireland with comments like this "It may well turn out that GAA is a bit like Guinness in that it works best in Ireland"

Let me fill you in a small bit:

Guinness is brewed in more than 150 countries.
40 percent of all Guinness is sold in Africa.
Of five Guinness-owned breweries worldwide, three are in African nations. Nigeria, home to one of those five breweries, is the world's second-largest market for Guinness consumption. Great Britain is first, Ireland comes third, Cameroon fourth, and the U.S.fifth.

Well Holy God!!!

To sum up, if the GAA becomes half as popular around the world as Guinness due to this Sky deal it will go down as a massive achievement.

Would love to know the basis of the rest of your arguments if this is the normal MUCKrossHead you come up with.

Faithfull (Offaly) - Posts: 573 - 09/04/2014 08:07:45    1572688

MuckrossHead can I add to that by apologising as I didn't mean to come across harshly to someone who is open to the idea of SKY.

I initially thought you were using it as an argument against the idea. Any we're both better educated on Guinness because of it!!!

Faithfull (Offaly) - Posts: 573 - 09/04/2014 08:10:24    1572689

Hillman,

"but surely bbc or itv would be a far better option as they are in every home in both britain and ireland
where as people still have to pay for sky sports in britian too"

Did you hear somewhere that ITV or BBC wanted to cover the championship??? I wouldn't be a fan of Frank Murphy in Cork but he makes a good point:

link

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 09/04/2014 13:14:15    1572872