MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 2364

1572635
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.

you say they could have paid to a satellite channel and that the coverage was very poor. well here is what I have been told from friends. EVERY match that was being broadcast in Ireland whether on RTE/TV3/Setanta or TG4 was being re-transmitted in its entirity on Premier Sports. For those matches on TG4 they used an english speaking commentator instead of the irish language commentator . for all other games it was basically like watching the original at home , with the half-time studio analysis as well. Premier don't have a studio, they just re-broadcast games or simulcast. so how can the coverage be poor when they are just showing what is being broadcast in Ireland. This is available to anyone in Britain for less than £10-month. You do NOT need a sky subscription and for an extra £2 you can watch online on a number of devices and also watch previous games on the player.
Now weare being told that this new Sky deal will give access to loads of people in Britain who didn't previously have access. Who are these people ?.
How much will it cost for the sky package (I guess 40 GBP or so). so where is the improvement or benefit there. Is Mancirish or anyone else from the UK able to explain what is going on. Are we being lied to ?

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 09/04/2014 13:21:54    1572877

Goldrick

The reason they went for Sky was because of Sky's marketing prowess & the fact that so many people in Britain have Sky Sports compared to Premier Sports.
Yes the GAA fan can see a game on Premier but as you say it was basically a retransmission with an English speaking commentator, Sky will be a whole different ball game. This is imn my view about acquiring new converts to the game, possibly people with Irish roots. Premier wouldn't do that in a month of Sundays.
I speak as someone who doesn't have Sky Sports, but if they do their thing then the benefits to the GAA in Britain could be enormous, the GAA people there are very enthusiastic. I think that is worth a small sacrifice on our part for 3 years to give it a chance. If it doesn't work out then well & good, we go back to the existing setup.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 09/04/2014 13:34:26    1572883

From what I saw abroad, Premier Sports have poor commentary over the RTE pictures & NO half-time or pre- or post-match analysis.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 09/04/2014 13:38:19    1572888

keeper7
County: Longford
Posts: 1887

1572888
From what I saw abroad, Premier Sports have poor commentary over the RTE pictures & NO half-time or pre- or post-match analysis.

I can second that Keeper, we get treated to Aussie rugby league ads etc. during the half-time breaks on Premier Sports.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 09/04/2014 13:57:55    1572906

Premier Sports is an absolute joke of a channel. We pay £10 a month to watch 3 hours of RTE/TV3/TG4 per week. Thats the 3 hours not including the ads.It is not RTE or TV3. It only shows certain games and not all the games available free to air back home. The amount of times you would turn it on only to find lorries racing around a circular track or local rugby from AUS/NZ. Its 2014 and still we wait and hope for some progress on having the facility to watch live GAA on the tele at home with family and friends. Nobody over here wants to take that right away from people at home but we want to see the matches too.

CocknyTribesman (UK) - Posts: 194 - 09/04/2014 14:23:21    1572926

also there is a myth out there that sky sports made darts what it is
completly wrong
sky sports show the pdc darts tournaments
there is two seperate organisations the pdc and the bdo
the man who took over the pdo is barry hearn
he is the sole responsible an for making the pdc what it is today he is a marketing man through and through
and brought in all the ideas to what you see now

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 09/04/2014 14:35:26    1572934

Boys, when Cork secretary Frank Murphy, a traditional GAA man to his fingertips, supports the deal then it's time to wind up the argument.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 09/04/2014 14:47:25    1572946

Who cares about darts?!?! Their Heineken Cup coverage is phenomenal.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 09/04/2014 14:52:37    1572954

keeper7

there lions coverage was awful

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 09/04/2014 14:58:28    1572960

09/04/2014 14:52:37
keeper7
Who cares about darts?!?! Their Heineken Cup coverage is phenomenal. Heineken Cup coverage is fairly top notch agreed. Hopefully their hurling/gaelic is somewhere around that level
09/04/2014 14:58:28
hill16no1man
keeper7, there lions coverage was awful It wasn't the greatest but Sky are totally biased in favour of Lions, when they're much more neutral they're much better like as keeper7 says their Heineken Cup coverage is great

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 09/04/2014 15:03:09    1572961

So I heard. Anyway, we're nitpicking. The deal is done so let's see where it takes us. A lot of the negative reaction reminds me of the way Unionists react every time a progressive proposal is made up North - insular & insecure. We GAA folk shouldn't need to be like that.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 09/04/2014 15:07:15    1572965

link

Wexford have voiced their concerns; SKY must be sh@$ing themselves!

TheGateKeeper (Tyrone) - Posts: 2843 - 09/04/2014 19:31:15    1573114

So Wexford county board is annoyed because it only benefits "External" veiwers. So all immigrants in Wexfords eyes are "External" not part of the GAA at all, just "External" to requirements. We contribute nothing we are "External". All we do is provide a point of contact, provide help when needed and a link to home for hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants across the globe who have become "External" so should not be accomodated. When they return home what does it take to become "Internal" again?? Aproval from the Wexford County Board?? Are they now the "External/Internal" Police?? All we do is promote our games to thousands of Non-Irish people and in turn grow interest in Ireland from these people who visit Ireland in their Thousands bringing their "External Money" with them. Maybe we should tell these "External People" that have obtained an interest in all things Irish from now "External" Irish people living abroad to stay away from Wexford as they would not want their "External" cash.
They have created a whole new catagory of opressed people, The "Externals"
Jesus Wept!

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 09/04/2014 20:07:07    1573137

While it will make it harder for the older generation and those without sky subscriptions, ultimately it will give the game more exposure and make it easier for the younger generation to follow over a there lifetime. My concern would be that it would reinforce the pub culture of having to go to a pub to watch the game

HoldCaul (Kildare) - Posts: 5 - 09/04/2014 20:31:05    1573149

Don't fret, there's not much of a pub culture left in this country thanks to the PC brigade! However, there is still a binge drinking culture which is a lot more worrying.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 10/04/2014 12:52:52    1573355

Dubfan Abroad
County: Dublin
Posts: 252

1573137
So Wexford county board is annoyed because it only benefits "External" veiwers. So all immigrants in Wexfords eyes are "External" not part of the GAA at all, just "External" to requirements. We contribute nothing we are "External". All we do is provide a point of contact, provide help when needed and a link to home for hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants across the globe who have become "External" so should not be accomodated. When they return home what does it take to become "Internal" again?? Aproval from the Wexford County Board?? Are they now the "External/Internal" Police?? All we do is promote our games to thousands of Non-Irish people and in turn grow interest in Ireland from these people who visit Ireland in their Thousands bringing their "External Money" with them. Maybe we should tell these "External People" that have obtained an interest in all things Irish from now "External" Irish people living abroad to stay away from Wexford as they would not want their "External" cash.
They have created a whole new catagory of opressed people, The "Externals"
Jesus Wept!

Well said dubfan, I spotted the same thing but you said everything there needs to be said.

The insularity of some in the GAA is a wonder to behold at times!!!

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 10/04/2014 13:25:13    1573383

MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 2373

1572883
Goldrick

Yes the GAA fan can see a game on Premier but as you say it was basically a retransmission with an English speaking commentator,

Sorry, but I am not letting this go. I did not say that Muckrosshead and that is factually incorrect and keeper7 from Longford is also factually incorrect. the only commentary that is purely premier sports own commentary is for the TG4 games. all other commentary and analysis is taken directly from eother RTE/TV3 or Setanta. If anyone was interested in watching GAA in Britain they would have had signed up to Premier and would have had access to ALL the games. Now they are been asked to pay SKY sports subs price to just watch 14 a year.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 10/04/2014 18:56:29    1573529

goldrick

You are still missing the point.

This deal is not about the GAA people in Britain but trying to attract peoplem many of whom are decended from emigrants & regard themselves as part Irish, to buy into Gaelic sports.

This is about expanding the reach of the association & is a marketing exercise, something Sky are very good at & Premier aren't.
I say again, this is an experiment, it might work it might work but it is in my view well worth the minor inconvenience of not having a small number of games live for the next 3 years

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 10/04/2014 19:26:43    1573536

MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 2376

1573536
goldrick

You are still missing the point.

This deal is not about the GAA people in Britain but trying to attract peoplem many of whom are decended from emigrants & regard themselves as part Irish, to buy into Gaelic sports.

This is about expanding the reach of the association & is a marketing exercise, something Sky are very good at & Premier aren't.
I say again, this is an experiment, it might work it might work but it is in my view well worth the minor inconvenience of not having a small number of games live for the next 3 years

I may be missing the point but I am speaking the truth. the facts I have given are correct unlike some posters on here.
Also I never heard the GAA talking about tapping in to hitherto uninterested punters in the UK. It was all about giving the GAA followers abroad a chance to watch GAA in their own homes.(something which they are doing at the moment anyway only for alot less money)

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 11/04/2014 20:25:46    1573999

The fact is that Sky Sports are already in a LOT more homes in Britain than Premier Sports. That blows your argument out of the water!

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 12/04/2014 10:05:17    1574079