30-10-2022, 11:28 AM
Yeah there’s a couple of things up there. For the first time since 2007 we have just one linear tv rights holder for the Championship in RTE. For the GAA-Sky split I think the league games excuse is being talked up, tbh. There are two factors really at play. First of all is the new “split season”, the Championship is basically over by July, and the majority of games done earlier, meaning that GAA as a method of keeping subs through the summer isn’t as valuable for Sky. Secondly the GAA have seen what they think is the future, and that’s their own brand platform GAAGO (50% owned by RTE). So there will be additional championship coverage there, and the U.K. rights - held by either Setanta or Premier (basically the same people) since the mid-1990s - will, except for the limited amount the BBC has picked up for national broadcast, be going there too, which is a watershed moment and basically reflects the end of Setanta/Premier in the U.K.
The hypocrisy from RTE over this is unreal though. They basically ran a campaign against the Sky paywall along the lines “the GAA should be free” raising the spectre of the elderly rural man living alone who wouldn’t be able to get Sky and now they are 50% shareholders in a pay per view platform which requires decent broadband (not a thing in much of rural Ireland) and they are hailing it as the future of the sport and a fantastic moment. Never mind the license fee payers though.
The hypocrisy from RTE over this is unreal though. They basically ran a campaign against the Sky paywall along the lines “the GAA should be free” raising the spectre of the elderly rural man living alone who wouldn’t be able to get Sky and now they are 50% shareholders in a pay per view platform which requires decent broadband (not a thing in much of rural Ireland) and they are hailing it as the future of the sport and a fantastic moment. Never mind the license fee payers though.