GAA President Jarlath Burns has branded comments made by former Tyrone All-Ireland winner Sean Cavanagh “superficial and emotional” amid criticism of the decision to broadcast the Munster SHC clash between Cork and Limerick on the paid-for GAA GO platform.
Cavanagh was commenting on RTÉ's The Saturday Game show when he made the claim “the GAA are one of the richest organisations in the world”.
He later clarified this on an RTÉ podcast by claiming he should have added the word ‘amateur’.
However, he did claim that: “the GAA is using GAAGO as a vehicle to maximise more revenue and more profit”.
In response, Burns was unapologetic about deriving revenue from GAA GO, listing a host of capital projects – among them Casement Park - the GAA was involved in which required a steady stream of revenue to fund.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show, the former Armagh captain said of Cavanagh’s comments: “That’s a superficial, emotional comment that doesn’t take into consideration the complexities of the logistics that we have to deal with in a real world.”
“Seán Cavanagh on Saturday night on live TV, and he is an accountant at an accountancy practice, said that the GAA is one of the richest organisations in the world.
“We have €140million of a turnover, of which we give back 83 per cent to our own members, counties, and clubs.
“For someone to make that comment live on The Saturday Game, considering the business that he is in, is just absolutely crazy.
“The only place we can get (money) from is with the selling of our games. GAAGO is a very small part of that.
Burns has been defending GAA GO in recent days after Cork’s thrilling win over Limerick, which was not available on free-to-air television.
“I make no apologies for saying that I want GAA GO to become a major revenue generator for our Association because we need that money to upgrade our facilities,” he added.