Cllr: RTÉ must not lose GAA games
Cork County Council has called on the GAA to ensure the potential sale of RTÉ’s 50% share in GAAGO will not result in less free-to-air coverage of games on terrestrial television.
The call comes following a motion by Fianna Fáil Councillor Ann Marie Ahern who is concerned people without access to streaming services will be unable to watch some of the biggest games in Ireland’s national sports.
“The GAA is still an amateur sport in Ireland and thoughts amongst the communities I’ve been speaking to is that RTÉ should still broadcast the games on terrestrial TV,” Cllr Ahern said at Monday’s full meeting of Cork County Council.
In December, the GAA offered to buy RTÉ’s share of GAAGO. The offer came after the GAA had decided to retain its rights to a multi-game deal it had put out to tender in August.
Cllr Ahern continued: “Currently the GAA do retain their rights for the domestic media packages previously put out to tender, but it is believed that a number of the games which would have been on terrestrial TV are now going to be moving to a streaming site.
“If RTÉ were to sell it and it is to be put on a streaming site, we’re adapting our national sports to be like a professional game.
“If this is to come to fruition, it cannot be to the detriment of the supporters and members of the GAA who keep them going on the ground in our local communities,” she added.
GAAGO has come under fire in recent years after securing exclusive rights to a number of major championship games that would have previously been viewable on Sky Sports.
This meant that fans with a Sky subscription would also have to pay for GAAGO in order to watch the matches, while those without broadband would have no way to watch at home.
Independent councillor Danny Collins said: “There are a lot of elderly people out there who have just RTÉ One and RTÉ Two in their homes and these are the people who are the heart and soul of the GAA for many, many years.”
Fianna Fáil Cllr Frank O’Flynn also supported Cllr Ahern’s motion but pointed out that GAAGO does have its positives.
He said: “I’ve a friend in South Africa who has no problem at all seeing any of our games.
“I would fully support that our main championship games and our main county finals should be continued free on our main stations, RTE One, RTE Two, or TV3.
“I will also say that GAAGO has a part to play, especially in promoting our games abroad,” added Cllr O’Flynn.
In October, it was revealed that subscription revenue for GAAGO more than doubled last year from €2.6m to €4.96m.
If the GAA does secure full ownership of the streaming service, reports suggest a full rebranding may be in store, complete with a new name.