if we go out of the championship after the limerick it would be very interesting to see the figures prior to our exit and after our exit.Where will GAAGO for their revenue when we are gone?
John Fogarty- Examiner
Another year, another paywall cracker. And no we don’t mean dodgy boxes.
Sunday’s mesmerising Cork-Clare affair would have been a marketing dream for hurling if it was broadcast on terrestrial television.
Instead, a Galway-Kilkenny Leinster round-robin game was offered. A high-scoring draw but nothing like the rampaging 56-score carnival that was produced at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The teams in Salthill weren’t going through the motions but there was a charade element to the game. They’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when. And their supporters were wise to it. Just 9,631 of them turned up in contrast to a record-breaking weekend in Munster where 36,814 were in Cork and 34,475 in Limerick.
RTÉ will point out that as a public broadcasting service they have to be as democratic as possible. That followers of the Leinster SHC have to catered for like the masses engaged with the offerings in the southern province.
For that same reason, there won’t be any live hurling on TV until May 19. Just like last year, the sport goes behind a paywall for the next two weekends as the provincial football finals take precedence on RTÉ.
Last season, the issue was GAAGO. It still is to an extent but there was plenty of prior warning given that all but one of Cork hurlers’ games were going to be on the premium streaming service. Nevertheless, by the time May 19 comes around and RTÉ show their match against Tipperary, Pat Ryan’s side could be out of the championship.
The Munster SHC round-robin split between RTÉ and GAAGO is five-four this year in contrast to five-five last season (RTÉ will show one final round game but unlike 2023 GAAGO have no plans to follow suit).
Why were the Waterford-Cork or Cork-Clare games not arranged for Saturday evenings? GAAGO’s finger points to the Munster Council. “There are four Munster hurling matches and two of those are on Sunday afternoons at the same time as an RTÉ match,” said head of GAAGO and GAA marketing Noel Quinn last December.
“RTÉ made their picks and two of those four wouldn’t have been broadcast anywhere if GAAGO didn’t broadcast them so rather than go dark, better to pick them up.”
Pitting two high-profile hurling matches against one another at 2pm on Sunday afternoon was cannibalistic. Throw in the clashing Ulster SFC semi-final between Donegal and Tyrone and the most competitive of two Leinster SFC last four games and it amounted to a verified feeding frenzy.
Once upon a time, the broadcasting of two senior inter-county fixtures at the same time was prohibited and with good reason. On Sunday, four ran simultaneously – two on GAAGO, events in Celtic Park on BBC and the Pearse Stadium clash on RTÉ.
The GAA was devouring itself.