‘It just feels uncomfortable’ – Shane O’Donnell hits out at GAAGO for using his image without his consent

The Clare hurling star made his feelings about the steaming platform crystal clear in a recent interview.

GAAGO is a video streaming service, developed as a joint venture by the GAA and RTÉ to allow fans of hurling, Gaelic football and camogie around the world to purchase and watch GAA games via a subscription.

The Clare man - who was named Hurler of the Year last week - said that he felt "uncomfortable" with the GAA using his image to promote the sales of subscriptions on the platform.

The Éire Óg club man also revealed that he is currently in talks with the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) over the general issue of image rights for GAA players.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's The GAA Social podcast earlier this week, the 30-year-old microbiology graduate vented his frustration over image rights within the sport.

"I’m working with the GPA at the moment on this - name, image, likeness has been mentioned," he said. "It really is having a bit more control over your image. My understanding is I don’t. I’ll give you an example.

"GAAGO obviously last year, not a particularly popular initiative, and one that I personally didn’t agree with."

He continued: "I didn’t think it should have been selling (games). I think they should just be swallowing the cost of promoting the game and paying to televise these games. I don’t think that’s something (major), out of their budget.

"The bottom line is, I don’t agree with it and then I see on the GAAGO website all year that they’re selling the season pass with myself and three other players - just right above the part where it says buy for x amount of euro.

"To anyone you could think that we’re endorsing that, or have given our explicit consent that we would be put up there. That’s just not the case. We weren’t even asked."

O’Donnell made it abundantly clear to the show's hosts Thomas Niblock and Oisín McConville that he has no interest in benefiting financially from promoting GAAGO.

"I don’t want to be endorsing GAAGO because I don’t agree with it," he added. "So really, I just want them to ask me, ‘Can we put your image up there?’ ‘No.’ ‘Okay. next person.’

"I mean, it’s not a huge deal but you feel like you should have some control over your image and you just want to be able to say, ‘Yes, I am happy to do that. No, I am not happy to do that.’

"It’s not like I want them to come and say we will give you x amount. It’s just can we put your image up there? Yes or no. My understanding for amateur players is that basically we don’t own our image."

The Ennis native continued: "I don’t know the legal details of it. It’s a grey area. From a players’ perspective it just feels uncomfortable.

"It feels like you in some ways are being exploited as an asset rather than being thought of as like, okay you are a player that has just had their image attached to something they are not comfortable with."

O’Donnell expressed his feeling that the GAA could do a lot more to promote games and says there is no incentive for players to engage with the media other than “they feel obliged or feeling like they should do it”.

"I think the players need to be brought along with it," he said.

"The players ultimately are the ones going to be doing it, but there needs to be a reason for them to do it. And I think the GAA ultimately are responsible for growing the game.

"That's their North Star, probably, growing the hurling and football to a bigger audience. And I think they need to see that as a core tenet, bringing players into the media and having more contact between them and having more build up and hype between games. That should be something that they're striving for. And I feel like they're missing a trick there."