Sky promise quality team

Sky Sports will be unveiling its new team of GAA presenters, commentators and analysts over the coming weeks, according to the head of the television station in Ireland.

Speaking on Newstalk yesterday, JD Buckley, managing director of Sky Ireland, said Sky would bring a new type of coverage to GAA.

“Sky Sports customers expect the best from us and I think our partnership with the GAA is going to allow us to bring Sky Sports treatment to the 20 games, right across the season.

“That means the highest quality coverage and production across tv, mobile, online and tablet, and for the first time ever Sky customers are going to be able to watch live GAA games on the go through the Sky Go App.

“In addition we are going to do in-depth interviews, in-depth player profiles through skysports.com and through Sky Sports News, so we are going to be bringing GAA to a much wider platform.”

He said the deal with Croke Park was a big move for the GAA and he believes the organisation will benefit from it, as will Sky customers.

“We think it is going to be really good for the GAA as an organisation who are trying to balance breath of coverage with quality of coverage and of course revenue.

“We will be announcing our line-up over the coming weeks and you can expect special quality. When you look at what we have done with rugby, with the Heineken Cup, we would tend to go for commentators and analysts who have specific sports experience or local sports experience so I don’t think (Paul) Merson will be doing it!” said Buckley.