RTÉ’S THE SATURDAY Game panel agree that “big games should not be hidden” as the GAAGO debate rages on.
This week, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that the GAA needs to “listen to their grassroots” with the row rolling into another summer.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin previously said that all GAA matches should be televised on free-to-air channels amid criticism of GAAGO.
Cork’s dramatic Munster hurling championship win over Limerick last night was only available on the pay-per-view service, and it was the second weekend in-a-row where no provincial hurling championship games was shown on terrestrial television.
"There is a growing disconnect between the association and the people at the grassroots..." - The Saturday Game panel discuss the GAAGO platform and ponder what might be done to improve the service and make it more accessible. pic.twitter.com/gXFLbVcCsv
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 11, 2024“There is a growing disconnect between the Association and the people right at the grassroots who are driving on their clubs all the time,” former Clare hurler and manager Anthony Daly said on The Saturday Game.
“By concept GAAGO is a good idea,” Tyrone All-Ireland football winner Sean Cavanagh added. “It was there to bring more games to the world, to promote the games that weren’t going to get airtime.
“Sky and Eir pulled away from the GAA in terms of broadcasting, that obviously left a hole in revenue, and for me, there’s a suspicion now that the GAA is using GAAGO as a vehicle to maximise more revenue, drive more profit, and that’s wrong. It’s driving off normal GAA people.”
“I think we’re all in agreement here that big games should not be hidden,” Cavanagh continued.
“The Cork-Limerick game should never have been on GAAGO, it should be flaunted all over the world. The GAA should be promoting it.”
Fellow panellists Neil McManus and Cora Staunton also offered their opinion, with Carlow’s stunning Leinster hurling championship draw with Kilkenny also referenced.
“The young people don’t see that product,” Staunton said. “They can see Premier League on television, they can see rugby, but they can’t see those two brilliant hurling games today.”
Some embarrassment for the GAA waking up this morning in the knowledge that's thousands of men ,women, and especially kids were denied the chance to see the titanic battle last between @OfficialCorkGAA and @LimerickCLG Don't worry, lad's, they got to see other sports on TV. ????
— Diarmuid O'Sullivan (@dsully3) May 12, 2024Meanwhile, former Cork hurler Diarmuid O’Sullivan is among those speaking out on social media.
“Some embarrassment for the GAA waking up this morning in the knowledge that thousands of men, women, and especially kids were denied the chance to see the titanic battle last between Cork and Limerick,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Don’t worry, lads, they got to see other sports on TV.”
