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Post by kerrygold on Aug 11, 2015 17:27:35 GMT
League games on pay per view do not equate to blue chip championship games at the business end of the championship in Croke Park. They are chalk and cheese. Exclusive and sole rights to games on sky at this time of the year removes the games from the "rank and file" people in the country, whether they be club people, club activists or just people who support the GAA through watching the games. Now, that is not right. The GAA is hardly just about the "rank and file" GAA club activist who might otherwise be preoccupied either.
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Post by ballynamona on Aug 11, 2015 17:58:23 GMT
Watching a game on a Saturday evening in Summer was part of the rhythm of life for many people, probably since the qualifiers came in back in 2001. Many people have struggled financially over the last few years. I used to have Sky Sports but cancelled it (before the GAA deal). Forking out for Sky would be an extravagance for many people (including myself).
There is something especially nauseating about an association which is supposed to be about the tie to club, parish and place, doing something that denies a simple pleasure to ordinary people.
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G_S_J
Senior Member
With greatness already assured, history now awaits.
Posts: 647
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Post by G_S_J on Aug 11, 2015 21:10:21 GMT
There is something especially nauseating about an association which is supposed to be about the tie to club, parish and place, doing something that denies a simple pleasure to ordinary people. To play devils advocate, I can't remember it being as big an issue last year because the quarter finals didn't throw-up any decent fixtures so people weren't as incensed, amazing how that can be turned on and off like a flick of switch. I actually set my Dad up with a pirate stream so he didnt have to go peering through windows like a peeping Tom frightening the neighbors. He got to see the match and Sky didnt get any money, that's everyone happy except for Rupert.
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Post by ballynamona on Aug 11, 2015 21:43:31 GMT
Most people who are against it have been consistent on it.
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Post by buck02 on Aug 12, 2015 8:27:05 GMT
There is something especially nauseating about an association which is supposed to be about the tie to club, parish and place, doing something that denies a simple pleasure to ordinary people. To play devils advocate, I can't remember it being as big an issue last year because the quarter finals didn't throw-up any decent fixtures so people weren't as incensed, amazing how that can be turned on and off like a flick of switch. I actually set my Dad up with a pirate stream so he didnt have to go peering through windows like a peeping Tom frightening the neighbors. He got to see the match and Sky didnt get any money, that's everyone happy except for Rupert. There was uproar on here when people couldn't watch Offaly and Kilkenny in the hurling. I'd love to have to luxury to be able to sit at home and watch every game during the summer. I think even the poor old farmer who lives alone in the hills might have had to listen to the games last weekend on the radio because he was milking the cows or cutting silage! Or wait, that poor farmer has only got sheep and the land is too bad to cut grass off so maybe he could have watched the games on RTE with a cup of tea (with no milk, sugar or biscuits of course because he cant afford that).
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G_S_J
Senior Member
With greatness already assured, history now awaits.
Posts: 647
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Post by G_S_J on Aug 12, 2015 9:00:40 GMT
I just think a lot of the rabble disgusted, would only watch the big match ups in the summer, the fact we had two good quarter-finals games this year there was far more noise. I am against the Sky deal, I just think a majority of people having a moan jumping on bandwagon, wouldn't be bothered with the early part of the championship.
To be honest, we could be seeing the end of the deal, it is clearly a total disaster numbers wise. When Sky decided to allow RTE cover the Munster Final replay, which was the biggest match of the year up that point, they were trying show a bit of good will to the Irish public, that was an incredible amount of leeway from Murdoch corporation. They know they're not winning people over, quite the opposite, and the move is failing because of that and the cost.
Showing the games in the UK makes sense, but snatching matches from the Irish doesn't.
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Post by kerrygold on Aug 12, 2015 9:12:01 GMT
The games are about all the people and not about a selective few who can or can not view them at a certain time. The Sky deal removes the games from giving all the people the opportunity to watch the games if they choose to do so or have the time to do so. The Sky deal is flawed in an amateur game that also coincidental happens to turn over 50 million a year at inter county alone. No doubt on the back of work carried out by the thousands of dedicated club footsoldiers.
The sharp and organised guys, if they so wish to do so, will have the cows gone through the parlour for the start of evening games and back in again in the morning for 5 am to compensate, while the hill farmer probably hasn't seen the sheep since the previous week anyway.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Oct 18, 2015 19:43:50 GMT
The reason for Munster Rugby success is that unlike say Leinster and Ulster, everybody was allowed play regardless of what school they attended and that some of Kerry's foremost in that code came from one Junior GAA Club that is Currow is most interesting; incidentally all having scored at the same corner in Lansdowne Road, given us Currow Corner. Pay Per View will restrict Rugby to the better off, i.e. those reared in a cocoon, so no more Moss Keanes, etc. As one of the smaller national Rugby populations Ireland can least afford to restrict itself further and our loss to Argentina was because we didn't have a full squad of players when injuries struck. A bit like smaller counties in GAA really! Bigger clubs are also outbidding us as was the case with Sexton and Racing Metro. Another example would be the poor show by TV3 of the Rugby World Cup, it was a Profit & Loss Account and the commentary was like it was designed to encourage people to get Sky, Keith Wood was the only one worth listening to and sharp he was too.
All good for the GAA but bad for sports overall and which is an invaluable tool in society to fend from less worthy distractions.
I have oft made this argument but it is only when the horse bolts that the powers that be listen.
Now let's make sure we do not do this to the GAA as urban and rural teams alike, if for varying reasons, need all the collateral behind them that they can get, given the headwind threats up ahead e.g. Professional sports, rural depopulation, etc. Players are the core driver of the quality of sports and all codes should be accessible to everyone without exception.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Dec 6, 2015 9:31:12 GMT
I wonder what will the crack be with it for 2016? I suppose they will delay announcing it and so avoid opening a window for debate; it will be pay up or else. Mind you they did hint of renegotiation and hopefully common sense will prevail and it is shameful that those who made the GAA what is it are now being out of the TV room and back further that where we were before we had TVs.
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Post by kerrygold on Dec 6, 2015 11:03:52 GMT
Exclusive rights of games for Sky is a load of bull*. If Sky and Croke Park want to promote Irish culture abroad let them share broadcasting rights of the particular games with the local stations. That would test Sky's commitment to promoting Irish games.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Dec 6, 2015 12:53:12 GMT
I don't think anyone believes that sugar daddy Rupert Murdoch is remotely interested in the welfare of the AA, although it might be better for him that his sweetie 60 something that is Jerry Hall, his latest bit on the side, well she was yesterday anyway but these things can change overnight if the share price falls. If she was into good looks then she could do a bit better or maybe she last lost the sight in her eyes, but she can obviously still count, well it is easy when it is only up to ten, as billions is the denomination.
Anyway I think the GAA made a bags of it, wasn't there so much duplication in coverage to the extent that the net increase in access to our emigrants was negligible. The first thing to be restored is free view for all games for all people on home turf and to hell with Sky, Setanta, etc. Free access was the reason Munster Rugby succeeded and the day a youngster doesn't see a game in front of him is the day the GAA dies. It doesn't need the money and certainly not to the detriment of it's foundations which is the emotional powerhouse that is fuelled by free exposure. I'd say most of the viewership these days are channel hoppers and certainly most new recruits to the game from outside the traditional heartland.
I think the GAA needs to start consulting with loyal supporters who have expertise in the relevant areas and there are many who know all about media who would only be delighted to help out.
And yes, exclusive rights to Sky was pure insane, sad, pathetic, mean spirited, ill spirited!
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Post by kerrygold on Dec 8, 2015 8:26:07 GMT
www.independent.ie/sport/neil-francis-beam-it-down-scotty-what-the-future-holds-for-sport-on-tv-34262183.htmlThe suits in Croker will have an interesting battle on their hands when Sky come in with a big offer, or some other organisation, in the future, especially if it coincides with the next boom in Ireland. Young elite Gaa players will be restless when they view professional sports all around them and the demands of their own game. You reap what you sow. The current economic bust is all that neutered advances towards a professional Gaa game. Culling the u21 and intercounty junior competitions will go along ways towards saving the association.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Dec 8, 2015 9:47:54 GMT
A good article by Neil Francis but with the normal flaws as oft outlined by one Tony O'Reilly, "to predict is difficult but to predict into the future is impossible" and he himself even went on to prove the point.
So to join the gang here is my prediction; I believe parallel networks will play an increasing role and will be beyond control so someone with a Google Glass like device can broadcast. Like other would be Fionn MacCumhail's, i.e. Salmon of Knowledge, Francis also fears that Apple will be all things to all people. No so, I am afraid.
Hurling is the best sport in planet earth and isn't it peculiar that we don't know that but we know what will happen in 20 years time.
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Post by whitefire on Dec 8, 2015 22:27:56 GMT
Glad to see the motion being passed on Sky at County board level. Hopefully, it will be debated at Congress. Last year the powers that be ruled a similar motion from Clare County Board out of order due to wording.
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Post by kerrygold on Dec 8, 2015 22:38:32 GMT
Glad to see the motion being passed on Sky at County board level. Hopefully, it will be debated at Congress. Last year the powers that be ruled a similar motion from Clare County Board out of order due to wording. Kerry backs call for all live GAA to be free-to-air on TV Updated: Tuesday, 08 Dec 2015 A motion from Kerry will go before next year’s GAA Annual Convention aimed at returning all live broadcast Championship matches to free-to-air television. Croke Park took the decision two years ago to sell rights for live hurling and football games to Sky Sports, opening up the market to satellite broadcasters for the first time. Sky have broadcast games from the past two Championships, including All-Ireland quarter-finals, but many GAA fans have hit out at the move. "The decision to deal with Sky was taken when money was continuing to get a lot tighter for people." On Monday night the Kerry County Board passed a motion calling on all games to be kept on free-to-air, non-subscription stations. The motion, put forward by the Beale club and presented by Maurice Mannix reads: “At the conclusion of the current TV broadcast rights contract, that all televised games be available on free to air TV.” That contract comes to an end following the conclusion of the 2016 season and the GAA will be under pressure from some quarters to freeze out Sky. “The feeling is strong on the ground over this,” explained Kerry County Board Chairman Patrick O’Sullivan, who presided over Monday night’s convention. “Not everyone is able to get to games and for those people, radio and television are their main way of staying in touch with what’s happening in the GAA. “You have to see how people in some parts of the country look at this. On the western seaboard it’s very different to Dublin, where the economic upturn has been a lot faster. "The decision to deal with Sky was taken when money was continuing to get a lot tighter for people." Kerry GAA chiefs first suggested that they bring the matter up with Croke Park’s ruling Management Committee for discussion. But such was the feeling among delegates, that a vote was taken and now the Beale motion will be discussed at Annual Congress in Carlow next February. This delay is so long as it passes through the Rules Advisory Committee, the body that makes sure all motions are in order before they are put on the agenda. Also at their convention, Kerry moved to modify their player-eligibility and transfer rules in an attempt to help rural clubs struggling with falling numbers. Up to now individuals could play for the club in the parish where they lived, or where they worked. That has been changed and in future players will only be allowed to line out for the club in the parish they live in. “The GAA started to use the parish rule back in 1955 and it hasn’t been changed in 60 years. A lot has happened in those 60 years,” said O’Sullivan. “In the past there weren’t as many cars on the road, but now nearly everyone has a car.” It is hoped that the rule change will prevent players from smaller, rural clubs joining bigger outfits in the urban areas where they work.
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Post by kerrygold on Dec 8, 2015 22:40:02 GMT
Fair play to Beale and the County Board for bringing forward this motion.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Dec 9, 2015 8:43:34 GMT
Well well well, you can always rely on Kerry! Overall I think the GAA needs to use The Internet to feed into elected officers so that the goodwill of the community is harnessed for the benefit of all, while also upholding accountability. If that was done properly then the world would be looking up to us.
In fairness I have always found that when things are communicated properly, our leaders respond. A good example was when a few on the forum thought the county Captaincy system should be looked at. I don't think we had thought it through though as Captaincy is not so important as leadership these days, and Sam is now accepted more by the team and that was demonstrated beautifully by Kerry also when there appeared to be disagreement, only for two to accept it.
I have alluded to the GAA more fulfilling it's community sport role by promoting Handball and this is another issue that The Internet could be utilised to get the ball rolling. It is a competitor to other court games like squash, badminton, tennis, etc, all of which are quiet popular. Could handball be played in sports halls, squash courts, etc I wonder? All reminds of the gable ball, and was it DJ Carey who used a car tyre for target practice? Amazing the devices that are close to hand, the best things in life are free! I was chattin to a Brazilian lad lately and I could just see all these fellas kicking ball at a cross roads just like you'd have seen in Ireland a few short years back.
To quote a line from a 'famous' poem... From the time, of the white-washed gable ball. The third Trojan Son re-jigged, and he jigged. He re-jigged again, and he jigged again. He re-jigs once more, and jig again will Trojan sons for ever more. Oh let this gigantic dressage thingamajig never end, let there be no farewell gig. It's now all part of our local, global, our glocal folkfactlóir.
Ah Tómas O'Sé got one up on us here, they used the Church and it's decorative stained glass didn't escape, nor did the culprit, well with one exception, innocent unc Paidí!
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Post by Ballyfireside on Dec 20, 2015 22:32:59 GMT
Televised soccer makes that sport so popular and it has a global audience.
The GAA must learn from how access enabled Munster rugby to leap frog provinces where it was restricted to certain schools.
As an amateur game the GAA must now restore it's own ethos and it's rude financial health means there is absolutely no excuse and maybe it is that they realise they have erred, to err is human!
Ballythefireside quote - Education, health and sport are rights for all, privileges have to be paid for, by the privileged.
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Post by kerrygold on Jan 26, 2016 17:20:28 GMT
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Post by Ballyfireside on Jan 27, 2016 0:31:15 GMT
Part of me thinks they knew what they were doing with Sky and went ahead to get people to go to games, "nothing like being there", etc. Given that GAA folk had suffered so much and that the GAA was seldom in such a financially strong position, I think it was a cheap shot. Just look at where Rigby now is, and they are all yapping of the different agendas of investors and players, as if that wasn't known. As I said before, Munster Rugby's success was down to it's open door culture and in contrast to 'feeder schools' in Ulster an Leinster. Ah maybe younger lads may think it is an age thing but I have done my homework here. Most sports organisations around the world envy the character of the GAA and while they amaze that it can be so dominant by being amateur, they don't realise that this is why it is dominant. Maybe some of us don't either. The GAA is the ultimate tonic for many social ills and it could be used more, e.g. handball as an individual sport could be positioned in addressing rural isolation, and indeed where individuals go astray in this busy world. It is an individual sport after all, and an amazing one, and all you need is a 50c ball and a wall, couldn't be simpler, indoors or out doors, no shoes or jersey, you can even play alone and age, gender are pretty irrelevant.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Jan 29, 2016 2:03:07 GMT
For the first time there is flesh on the bone for public debate in the article below which is published today ahead of congress, and Kerry is voting for "Free to air." I think the GAA needs to tap into members who understand the way media is changing and which is vital given that contracts span 3 years in this case. Of course we want emigrants to have access, I was there myself and it is only as heart breaking as people cut off in rural isolation on the home sod. Ah I hope they get it right, and all will be forgiven.
Congress vote could end extension of GAA’s pay-per-view TV deal Congress motion calls for all televised big championship games to be on free to air TV
A simple majority vote against further negotiations regarding the GAA’s pay-per-view TV rights may be enough to end any extension of the current Sky deal – at least in the short term.
Confirmation that a motion seeking to rule out any further pay-per-view deals has made it to next month’s Congress clár will ensure a full Association debate on the issue for the first time. While all motions require a two-thirds majority in order to pass, the general outcome of that debate may influence what way the GAA deal with future Sky negotiations.
Among the 65 motions headed for Congress in Carlow next month is motion 42 – passed at last month’s Dublin Convention – which calls for a new rule (1.18) with regard to broadcast rights, whereby “all televised inter-county championship games shall be available on free to air TV”.
It will certainly make for some heated debate at Congress, set for the weekend of February 26/27th, particularly as one of the main criticisms of the Sky deal in the first place was that it was never subjected to the Congress clár. While motion 42 may struggle to reach that two-thirds majority, it has been suggested a simple majority against the motion may be enough to change the GAA’s stance on the issue at central level.
Their three-year deal with Sky comes to an end following the conclusion of the 2016 season, and the GAA must then decide to extend the contract with Sky or revert to free-to-air only. Motion 42, if passed, would come into effect from January 1st, 2017.
Exclusive rights It’s almost two years now since Croke Park made the decision to sell exclusive rights for 14 live hurling and football games to Sky, opening up the market to satellite pay-per-view broadcasters. Several motions against an extension of that deal were presented for Congress, including from Kerry, although only the Dublin motion (from inner city club St Joseph’s O’Connell Boys, unanimously passed at the Dublin convention) will be voted on. GAA director general Páraic Duffy has already warned against eliminating the option of pay-per-view deals, addressing the issue in his annual report, highlighting the fact “our television broadcast partners, RTÉ, TG4, Sky Sports, Setanta and BBC, carried 145 live-match broadcasts in 2015” and that “with the coverage of games available to emigrants in Britain through Sky Sports, we are providing for our members and supporters abroad as never before”.
Duffy then added: “Other sports bodies are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their exploitation of their broadcast rights, so the work to maintain the GAA presence on television intensifies accordingly.
“These international changes have a knock-on effect on sport in Ireland, as they significantly alter the balance of resources among the major Irish sporting bodies. It is clear that this imbalance will become significantly greater in the foreseeable future. With this in mind, it is crucial that we do not hamper ourselves in our approach to our upcoming broadcast negotiations. The Association has traditionally adopted a policy of free-to-air availability in the Irish market for the vast majority of its major competitions.”
According to Duffy’s report, in 2015, 114 games were shown live, or on full deferred coverage on terrestrial TV: “This policy will remain central to the next set of rights agreements – there will be no reduction in the number of live senior championship games shown free-to-air.
“However, any restriction that prohibits the GAA from engaging with all interested parties, including subscription TV providers, would seriously reduce our negotiating power and thus our ability to achieve the true worth of our assets, and would inevitably lead to a greatly reduced media-rights income. In what is already a small pool of potential broadcast partners, we must ensure the existence of a genuine market for our games and maintain the option of engaging with all interested parties, regardless of whether they are free-to-air or subscription providers.”
Sky viewing figures for the 2015 All-Ireland hurling final represented a dramatic decline of the 2014 figures. The average viewing figures for the Kilkenny-Galway final was only 32,000, compared to 104,000 from the previous year.
Most of the other 65 motions – beyond mundane housekeeping matters –have already been aired, including motion 2 from Central Council (which is the new B-championship football proposal), and motion 40, from the playing rules standing committee, which is looking to introduce “the mark” as used in International Rules, but only for kick-outs past the 45m line, and not prevented the short kick-outs either.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Feb 17, 2016 10:33:17 GMT
Breheny has an interesting contribution in today's Indo in the run up to Congress.
Kerry and Dublin have taken the hardline here and Breheny's insight confirms that the GAA needs well informed supporters to advise it.
While there are tremendous opportunities there are also some threats up ahead that only insiders will know are coming down the line.
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