You know it is negotiating season when Aogán Ó Fearghail is making bold statements.
The role of GAA president is a curious one – an elected figurehead with a relatively short term in office, during which you mostly have to defer to the power behind the throne, director general Paraic Duffy.
The president is a very visible during his term, enjoying the honour of presenting the Liam McCarthy and Sam Maguire on All-Ireland final days, but also speaking at all manner of events up and down the country.
The GAA president is more often than not a unifying, inoffensive and relatively conservative character. Seán Kelly may have opened Croke Park to foreign codes, but he did so while striking a conciliatory tone with those who opposed the move.
Liam O’Neill was president when Sky Sports were brought to the table in 2014. Ever since then the broadcaster has been a topic of debate and target of vitriol for some.
Cavanman Ó Fearghail has been as safe and conservative as any president to come before him, so his comments Thursday on the upcoming negotiations on a new broadcasting rights deal were quite surprising.
“There is no automatic right for everybody to see every game,” he said.
“Our biggest thing is always to make sure that people are at a match. Without the attendances we have difficulty, so there is no automatic right for anyone to see every single game.
“We used to have many more live games. Originally, as you know, better than I do, nothing was on live television except an All-Ireland semi-final and a final. That’s not that many years ago.”
The current three-year deal, which expires at the end of the month, sees RTÉ exclusively broadcast 25 games, Sky Sports 14, while they share the rights to six (the All-Ireland football and hurling semi-finals and finals).
The president’s comments are proof if proof were needed that the association are ready to return to the negotiating table and could be welcoming more players than ever.
Congress rightly voted down a motion earlier this year, which called for all televised matches to be kept on terrestial, free-to-air television. This was rightly seen by the majority as a ludicrous move for the GAA to take as a business.
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Like it or lump it, the GAA is a business. A business that protects its commercial rights and strives to maximise their profitability. While ruling Sky out of negotiations would be foolish, it would be criminal to rule out Sky and newcomers Eir.
Having taken over Setanta, the telecommunications company formerly known as Eircom are intent on making a splash in the market to try and lure customers away from rival TV and broadband suppliers such as Sky and Virgin Media.
It is a similar approach to that taken by BT Sport in the UK and we have seen what their entry into the market has done to the value of football and rugby rights.
Add in RTÉ, TG4 and a rejuvenated and refunded TV3, who outbid RTÉ for the rights to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and you have a very different media landscape from that which delivered the current deal in 2014.
Ó Fearghail will of course emphasise the importance to the GAA of filling stadiums and the fact tickets were on general sale days before the All-Ireland hurling final shows maintaining crowd numbers is an ongoing battle.
“Nothing beats being there” goes the GAA tagline for attracting punters to games. The same goes for players around the negotiating table – the more the merrier for the GAA.
The GAA Hour Hurling Show relives Tipperary’s sensational All-Ireland victory with Paidí Maher. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
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