IN ALL FAIRNESS - GAAGO won’t go away

GAAGO is a topic that refuses to ‘go away’ for the GAA

Last weeks announcement of their 2024 championship schedule reignited the furore over the online streaming platform, particularly with three of Cork’s four Munster hurling championship games to be shown on the pay-to-watch concept.

The irony for me is that there is such glowing praise when it comes to online streaming of club games, which is also pay-to-watch, but when it comes to inter-county games, pay-walls seemingly are a no no.

Sometimes I wonder would RTE prefer to not to have the hassle of showing Gaelic games as no matter what they do, they are an easy punching bag, particularly off the back of the Ryan Tubridy debacle and the financial issues it shone to the public.

However, one has to remember that RTE do not own the GAA, and the GAA doesn’t own shares in RTE. But what does muddy the waters in regard to GAAGO is that the platform is a joint concept between the GAA and RTE. Indeed, a couple of outstanding questions remain unanswered, including whether GAAGO has the approval of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and who are the directors of GAAGO, and what are they being paid.

At an appearance at the Oireachtas media committee last July, GAA Director General Tom Ryan revealed that it was anticipated that GAAGO would generate around €4 million in revenue in 2023, with the large majority coming from the domestic audience. The committee also heard that GAAGO attracted an audience in excess of 120,000 people for some of its bigger games, including the Kerry v Tyrone All-Ireland football quarter final, to a low of just 1,000 subscribers for some Tailteann Cup games. That Kerry v Tyrone figure is well down on what would have watched on RTE television.

The argument for setting up GAAGO was for the GAA would take control of its own product after not wishing to continue further with the Sky Sports deal. In effect, GAAGO began covering a lot of the games Sky used to show, including some Munster hurling championship games and both All-Ireland football quarter finals.

GAAGO is in effect a GAA channel in everything but name with RTE bringing the required knowledge and experience in how to put a television production together, without the GAA having to stump up the cost for it. One wonders come the end of 2027 when the current rights agreement ends will the GAA go it alone to avoid any controversy, but would that be any more palatable to people who feel watching GAA inter-county games on television should be free, no matter how many or how few games are shown on it.

At the moment, there is no difference in paying to watch GAA as it was on Sky and now on GAAGO, however for some, there was the handiness of being able to sit down and watching a game on television via Sky whereas GAAGO has the extra layer of needing to be cast to a tv but needs a laptop computer or mobile phone to do so.

But when you consider that a Sky Sports subscription can come in well in excess of €150 per month, and an annual season pass for GAAGO comes in at an early bird price of €69 at the moment, GAAGO is much greater value for money for a supporter. However, one of the criticisms of GAAGO is that broadband issues in certain parts of the country make it difficult to get a good stream whereas Sky being on satellite eliminates that problem, even at a higher price.

GAA’s current deal with RTE for the next four years only allows approximately 40 games on their main channels per year, with some arguing that the GAAGO games should be shown also there also, but that doesn’t take into account that RTE also have to show other sports at that time of the year on a Saturday and Sunday, and indeed also show programming for those that do not like sport.

The reason why Virgin Media were rejected by the GAA is they only expressed an interest in showing games in a “ready to go” format, i.e., they provide the commentators and pundits, while GAA saddle the production costs of camera-people and technicians, something which RTE cover the cost of in the games they show, so you can understand why Virgin Media were ruled out.

TG4 is also an option and for all the glowing tributes they get for their coverage of Gaelic Games, one of the first criticisms you would hear if they started covering senior inter-county games would be that it is through the medium of Irish, you can be sure of that!

Combined in 2023, RTE television & GAAGO showed almost eighty championship games live, and in many ways GAA supporters are spoiled compared to other sports but you wouldn’t think it.