NOT many saw it coming.
The GAA and Sky TV failed to renew their broadcasting partnership.
Now, if there is money in it, you can bet your bottom dollar that Sky would have been going ‘gung-ho’ in seeking to secure a piece of the GAA pie.
The Sky TV model is to make profit – as much as possible.
However, over the course of their deal with the GAA, I would suspect that the viewing figures simply did not stack up.
Moreover, the GAA, it appeared, were unprepared to give Sky exclusive 'live' games, especially those demanded as being the most attractive.
For all its corporate spiel, the GAA remains an overwhelmingly parochial Irish thing.
Admittedly, on the face of it anyway, there remains a certain loyalty between the GAA and our National TV broadcaster too – RTE.
However, with this brings complacency and a lack of competition.
It is noted that the BBC have certainly upped their game and their analysis and coverage is becoming a growing competitor to RTE.
Amazon has been mooted as a possible new GAA rights broadcaster, but again, you run the risk of upsetting the masses with their coverage accessed behind a pay-wall.
The one big issue the BBC may have, in a wider sense, is a possible geo-blocking fiasco that has plagued many viewers in the North accessing RTE over their Skybox.
On a shoe-string budget, TG4 still punches way above its weight and it would be fantastic to see them get a larger slice of the GAA game – their coverage would almost push me to embark on learning more Irish, having not fared particularly well in school in that subject.
Most of us, who have a love of the game, would even watch a bad game of football or hurling as opposed to none at all.
What makes good coverage?
The anchor leads the conversation – guys like Michael Lyster or the late Bill O’Herlihy were brilliant at dictating what the topic was and, importantly, where the conversation led.
Of course, it was emotive at times, but we love that and we want it.
There is nothing more off-putting than sterile commentary or analysis.
When Sky secured the rights in 2014 to cover GAA games, they had the awareness to attract some of the most credible people in the game in Peter Canavan and Jim McGuinness as analysts.
The thing is, Sky does not operate effectively as a second or third rights holder to any sport.
Their model does not sustain it and without more exclusive games I suspect Sky would have been signing up to another five-10-year contract they know to be going against their ‘norm'.
To be fair to the GAA, they have resisted the opportunity to ‘cash-in’ on the explosion in popularity of the inter-county game and one would suspect that the top of the mountain was reached in Sky’s deal of 2014, that is in terms of selling viewing rights anyway.
For now, there will be relief that RTE remains the predominant player and, more importantly, available as free-to-air broadcaster (excluding the annual TV licence fee, of course).
In addition, given COVID and the development of streaming services, you would have to think that the GAA see this as their ‘future’ model via the popular GAAGO service.
The GAA is a game unique to us.
At club level, the codes actually travel well and we continue to see new clubs emerging in America, The Far East of Asia and Australia.
At inter-county level, it is impossible to recreate the game on a large scale outside these shores.
Yes, historically, we have taken the game to London, New York and Melbourne; however, aside from the Polo Grounds in 1947 and Wembley in 1958, the best finals are on the hallowed turf at Jones's Road, Dublin.
The split season has been cited as one of the reasons for Sky’s push-back to the GAA in seeking to access more matches.
Sky are not interested in the club game – we know this.
RTE has the edge in this regard, as does TG4.
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IT appears that the GAA are adamantly sticking with the split season and it is here to stay.
While I always enjoyed the September finals, this is not a reason to prevent progress in terms of reconciling the county vs club debate that has been raging for many years now.
The only problem I see personally is that the county player plays little, if any, of the club league programme prior to their respective county teams exiting the championship.
In any man’s language, this is elitist and, for the club players union, it is disappointing.
You cannot be everything to every manager – so the inter-county player is in an unenviable position.
Consequently, clubs who rely on the brilliance of their ‘county representative’ in a full club league program can suffer hugely.
Relegations from a league division or championship could well be a by-product of inter-county absenteeism.
Is there a solution?
I am not sure, to be honest.
There have been complaints that the current system's calendar is too ‘tight’ and the scheduling doesn’t facilitate more rest and recovery, and yet Kerry have had to wait for up to four weeks between games, so there is a contradiction here.
Indeed, under the new Championship structure being adopted in 2023, with provincial championships played before the main competition, it can only be at this time next year we can say if things are beginning to settle down.
It is hard to argue, though, it is in the months of September, October and November each year, we continue to see the best of our local communities and clubs coming together and celebrating a championship win at either junior, intermediate or senior level.
I suspect for this reason, increasingly, it appears that some of the best minds in the game are actively remaining outside inter-county management, preferring the more personable and enjoyable surroundings of club football.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why county teams are having more difficulty in attracting quality candidates into the inter-county management role!
Monaghan and Donegal have both made solid appointments in the last few weeks, having (from what is known) talked to a number of interested parties.
I like to see former players like Paddy Carr and Vinny Corey take on these roles in their respective counties.
Managing your county is akin to managing the club – nothing quite like winning with your own.
