Pay-to-view GAA

The GAA is expected to announce a three-year deal with pay-to-view broadcasters Sky Sports.

By doing so it will, like every other sports body, recognise that television rights — or, expressed differently, viewers’ subscription fees — are the lifeblood of all sports organisations around the world today.

If there is apprehension around the move it is that Gaelic sports occupy a particular place in the hearts and minds of Irish people, some of whom may feel that the Sky Sports paywall will stand between them and their sporting heritage. The move will also hit on Irish broadcasters’ revenues.

There is more than a ring of truth to this argument, especially as the sports involved are amateur, in name at least.

It would be a pity though, if when those famous September Sundays roll around that the great privilege we now all enjoy as a right should carry a price tag, one that might exclude great numbers of Irish people.