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Poll: Should all senior GAA games be free-to-air?

Should we stay or should we GAAGO?

OVER THE LAST two weekends, GAA fans have expressed irritation that certain high-profile clashes have only been accessible via the GAAGO paid streaming service. 

Following the decision to host Tipperary-Cork and Clare-Limerick on the online platform, many fans have questioned whether current system of GAA broadcasting could be improved upon.

This discussion was compounded by Virgin Media claiming that they were never approached to host any live GAA games, and instead that broadcasting rights were automatically shared between RTÉ and GAAGO, in which RTÉ has a 50% stake.

“When Sky Television decided not to renew its GAA rights, the GAA did not approach other broadcasters to ascertain whether they would be interested in broadcasting these games but arbitrarily decided to put them behind a paywall,” Virgin Media said in their statement yesterday.

Today we want to know if you think all GAA games should be available free-to-air.


Poll Results:

All senior games should be free-to-air (7796)
Some senior games should be on GAAGO (1807)
I don't know (552)

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56 Comments
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    Mute Ciaran
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    May 10th 2023, 10:32 AM

    GAA GO to my knowledge was set up to allow people abroad to watch the games. Have the games free to air in Ireland and put the paywall in place for expats abroad who would be willing to pay to access the games. Simple.

    561
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    Mute Michael
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    May 10th 2023, 11:05 AM

    @Ciaran: a vpn easily gets around location blocks

    32
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    Mute John Murphy
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    May 10th 2023, 11:23 AM

    @Michael: I think the issue is that the games should be on terrestrial TV. In this case RTE haven’t the space for the games but Virgin media could surely have been allowed show a few of the matches.

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    Mute Michael
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    May 10th 2023, 11:29 AM

    @John Murphy: I dont disagree, just pointing out how the above solution would not work

    9
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    Mute Maria
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    May 10th 2023, 11:39 AM

    @Michael: VPNs don’t work for the BBC Player

    21
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    Mute The Bolt
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    May 10th 2023, 11:46 AM

    @Maria: You’re using the wrong vpn then

    34
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    Mute Michael
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    May 10th 2023, 11:50 AM

    @Maria: Yes they do, good ones anyway, its only a location BBC can block/blacklist ip addresses and they do, but good vpns providers are constantly updating there list of adresses to get around this..gone well off topic here wasn’t my intention

    21
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    Mute Ann Reddin
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    May 10th 2023, 1:48 PM

    @John Murphy: Ciara Doherty read out a statement for Virgin Media, last night on The Tonight show in which they stated that they were NOT approached by either the GAA or RTE regarding the airing of any GAA matches. It was also put to the RTE/GAA guest that RTE has four stations – RTEs 1 and 2, TG 4 and News Now so there is no reason that games have to be put behind a paywall. During Covid the GAA were given fifty million euros (according to what was said on The Tonight Show) during the covid lockdown, and that’s withough the twenty million euros Berties gave them when they were refurbishing Croke Park and that is without mentioning the one hundred and eighty million RTE receive from the TV licence. Hurling is our national game, has been since the pre-Christian era and to put it behind a paywall is a despicable act. And if ex-pats want to watch then they log into RTE player and watch it online.

    44
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    Mute Moses
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    May 10th 2023, 10:41 AM

    Free to air ???

    Hmmmmmm! We already pay a €160 annual licence so nothing is free to air.

    456
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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    May 10th 2023, 11:11 AM

    @Moses: Do we pay?

    25
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    Mute Gavan Hogan
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    May 10th 2023, 8:49 PM

    @Dave Barrett: I tried not paying. First An Post came calling to my door. Then they got debt collectors and Gardaí involved. I realised that it’s just less hassle to pay RTÉ their money.
    Does anyone remember protection money in the 80s. It’s that kind of thing.

    20
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    Mute Liam P Dunne
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    May 10th 2023, 10:41 AM

    The players play for FREE they should stand up for their communities being ripped off here.

    322
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    Mute Tipper Irie
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    May 10th 2023, 11:57 AM

    @Liam P Dunne: hmmm, they used to say rugby was amateur too, but when I joined London Irish senior team I got a good job with Gallaher and a “benefactor” gave me large sum of money. Friend at one of the other exiles teams got a larger payment, both in early/mid 90s.

    48
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    Mute bazhealy
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    May 10th 2023, 12:41 PM

    @Tipper Irie: I fail to see what this has to do with anything. Are GAA players paid for playing GAA? No. Were you paid for playing rugby? Not based on that story. Did playing for London Irish benefit you? Yes, but presumably this “job” with Gallaher still meant you had to work during the week to make an income, and yes your terms were better as they supported you playing, but you still had a job.

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    Mute Conchuir
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    May 10th 2023, 12:46 PM

    @bazhealy: do they not get an allowance of €2400?

    11
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    Mute Madra
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    May 10th 2023, 1:59 PM

    @Liam P Dunne: they could get free passes to share with family and friends

    1
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    Mute Elrond Rivendell
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    May 10th 2023, 5:07 PM

    @Liam P Dunne: The facilities of GAA clubs are the envy of most other sporting organisations. How are they getting ripped off? Not all senior games were ever free to air. The hysterical responses serve nobody.

    7
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    Mute Eamon Mag Uidhir
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    May 10th 2023, 10:44 AM

    The players are not being paid. Nobody should be cashing in on their great achievements and efforts on the playing field, least of all the bureaucrats who administer the sports. What sets gaelic games apart is the unpaid voluntarism that underlies them.

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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    May 10th 2023, 11:42 AM

    @Eamon Mag Uidhir: If you believe that the players are not being paid….. LOL!

    55
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    Mute Lisa Fitzgerald
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    May 10th 2023, 11:06 AM

    Amateur sport= free to air

    97
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    Mute Conchuir
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    May 10th 2023, 12:47 PM

    @Lisa Fitzgerald: so should all amateur sport be shown on TV?

    26
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    Mute Elrond Rivendell
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    May 10th 2023, 5:07 PM

    @Lisa Fitzgerald: A very simplistic argument.

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    Mute Ciaran Leonard
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    May 10th 2023, 11:21 AM

    If the GAA is a voluntary, amateur sport – how can it justify charging to view games? If coaches and players around the country, in parishes and townlands are playing / working for free, how can the public be charged to see the fruit of their efforts? The GAA needs to decide, clearly, either it is a volunteer led, sporting organization for amateur sports players, or it is a commercially driven, professional sports body. That is the problem and has been for many years – the ambiguity of the sports status.

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    Mute Kendra Jackson
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    May 10th 2023, 11:26 AM

    @Ciaran Leonard: because it costs money to film the games. The camera operators, the sound engineers, all the other people required to set up for broadcasting. They’re not amateurs doing it for the love of the job. , they have to be paid.

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    Mute Kendra Jackson
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    May 10th 2023, 11:26 AM

    @Ciaran Leonard: because it costs money to film the games. The camera operators, the sound engineers, all the other people required to set up for broadcasting. They’re not amateurs doing it for the love of the job, they have to be paid.

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    Mute Stanley Marsh
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    May 10th 2023, 12:29 PM

    @Ciaran Leonard: “If the GAA is a voluntary, amateur sport – how can it justify charging to view games?2

    The GAA has always chared to view games when you actually go to the game.

    If you go to an u21b championship match in November you’ll be charged.

    Afterall the monster that is the GAA can’t be run for nothing.

    15
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    Mute Conchuir
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    May 10th 2023, 12:51 PM

    @Ciaran Leonard: so they should probably not charge for going into the stadium either and dry all funding for the sports/clubs etc.

    12
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    Mute John Smith
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    May 10th 2023, 10:35 AM

    That’s a bit like saying should everything be free, people hardly going to say they want to pay for it instead.

    62
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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    May 10th 2023, 1:34 PM

    @John Smith: Surely it’s more the case that generations who have always supported, played, attended and keep the GAA thriving can now watch from their homes without extra fees?

    22
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    Mute Rory Murphy
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    May 10th 2023, 10:30 AM

    Yes..Just to go a small bit to justify the license fee!

    61
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    Mute Lad
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    May 10th 2023, 10:48 AM

    Do people realise they have not been free to air with some time. Sky sports wasn’t an issue for the majority but people already had some access or knew where to watch it. Your local pub should have GAAGO, you should be able to access it easily at home. Where the GAA have messed up is communication of this and marketing that should have existed to have people setup already. It’s a different argument to what games should be on it and thats what Donal Og was saying – Munster hurling should be on free to air because its just that good.

    64
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    Mute Paddy Ryan
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    May 10th 2023, 10:33 AM

    Why can’t games on GAAgo , be shown later on the I player , so people can view the whole game, and not just highlights , it might be a solution.

    49
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    Mute Jerriko17
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    May 10th 2023, 10:43 AM

    All games on free to air is fine but who’s going to pay for it???? A huge number of people begrudge paying any license at all and an even bigger number would go ballistic if an increase was proposed!!! The problem is mostly caused by the GAA’s scheduling of matches…. Provincial finals on at the same time!!!! And also, the way we watch TV is changing and we have to change too.

    44
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    Mute Sean
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    May 10th 2023, 10:47 AM

    @Jerriko17: these games were always shown on RTE in the past so it would just be a return to that. RTE would pay for the rights using the money that they receive for the TV license.

    76
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    Mute Brian Dennehy
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    May 10th 2023, 10:49 AM

    @Jerriko17: we already pay a license fee for it. Our national sports which aren’t professional should not be behind a pay wall.

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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    May 10th 2023, 11:43 AM

    @Sean: ‘always shown on RTE’?? Eh…. no. In the past only the finals were shown. If you wanted to see any other match you actually had to go to it.

    25
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    Mute Tom Mc Bride
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    May 10th 2023, 12:00 PM

    @Sean: When did RTE show every inter County senior GAA match live on TV?

    22
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    Mute Stanley Marsh
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    May 10th 2023, 12:26 PM

    @Jerriko17: The same way most stuff on TV is paid for…advertisments.

    9
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    Mute Eoghan Devilly
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    May 10th 2023, 1:03 PM

    @Jerriko17: Well there is already plenty of advertising and as far as I know there’s advertising on GAAGO as well. Maybe the sponsors should pay for it? Why is there a license fee for RTE when they’re making revenue from advertising anyway? Double whammy for the viewers. Look at the state of the RTE Player and the amount of ads on it is a joke. We the viewer are getting screwed

    17
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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    May 10th 2023, 1:35 PM

    @Eoghan Devilly: You’re absolutely right.

    7
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    Mute John Macken
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    May 10th 2023, 11:28 AM

    A gaa go season pass is €79. For this you get 38 games. Great value considering rte can’t show every single game. It works out at just over €2 a game. Problem is we want eventing free in this country

    40
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    Mute Catherine Gaffney
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    May 10th 2023, 11:42 AM

    @John Macken: Does everyone have high-speed Internet access? Does everyone know how to stream or chrome cast? Has everyone got a smart television or smartphone? Are peoples circumstances able to spend extra on a sports channel in a cost of living crisis?

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    May 10th 2023, 1:11 PM

    I am tech savvy but many of my generation are not. This is the generation that provided every parish in Ireland free coaching and travel to matches to all children and players of all grades, purchased pitches ,built Club Houses and changing facilities for teams. The GAA is far more than a sporting organisation , it’s a fabulous community organisation supporting people in many other ways. The people who are still not tech savvy deserve to be able to watch the important matches in their own homes. In 20 years time this generation will be gone. Respect the people who made the GAA what is is today.

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    Mute Ciaran Goggins
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    May 10th 2023, 10:51 AM

    The half owners are from rte

    32
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    Mute Marc O'Connell
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    May 10th 2023, 11:09 AM

    How about lowering the price of tickets to games, €35 for a Provincial Final ticket is crazy for an amateur sport.

    When games were barely on TV attendances where much higher, which in turn led to a better atmosphere at games, I’ve been in Croke Park when the attendance was 30k & you could hear a pin drop the place was so spread out and empty.

    33
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    Mute Joe Byrne
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    May 10th 2023, 12:43 PM

    GAA and RTE are both well funded by individuals and the public finances

    26
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    Mute Ordinary Bloke
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    May 10th 2023, 11:59 AM

    Wow. That’s some sense of entitlement. I’d wonder how many sports organizations in the world get this amount of tacit and direct support from the State.

    23
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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    May 10th 2023, 1:39 PM

    @Ordinary Bloke: I’m not at all sporty but isn’t it worth investing in national sports? Better than propping up vintners, gamblers & racing? Better to offer the next generation a level playing field.
    Not to mention a still mandatory TV licence for people who never watch RTÉ?

    8
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    Mute Gavin Gray
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    May 10th 2023, 11:24 AM

    Where is the “I don’t care” option?

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    Mute bazhealy
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    May 10th 2023, 12:44 PM

    @Gavin Gray: it’s called not engaging with the article, poll or comments section. If you don’t care you’re putting a lot of effort into it.

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    Mute Martin Curtin
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    May 10th 2023, 12:09 PM

    Rte own half of gaago so that is unfair, virgin should be offered some games

    21
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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    May 10th 2023, 11:40 AM

    Whats wrong with a simple ‘no’ option???

    16
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    Mute Madra
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    May 10th 2023, 1:58 PM

    Perhaps anyone with a TV licence should get access to content like this. At least make it feel people are getting something in return of the fees.

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    Mute Adrian
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    May 10th 2023, 2:32 PM

    There should be an answer that just says No.

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    Mute Eamonn
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    May 10th 2023, 2:36 PM

    Have another poll tomorrow to see if you should do more polls!

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    Mute Emmet Murphy
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    May 10th 2023, 1:57 PM

    The GAA world cup?

    1
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