GAA streaming boom crosses bumpy road: Rising costs, dodgy boxes, quality conflicts

Clubber showed 64 GAA games across nine counties last weekend. Other counties provided their own service. The streaming phenomenon continues.

READY TO ROLL: Ricky Nolan, left, and James Fitzgerald prepare their cameras to stream a match on clubber.ie. 

It is not for everyone, but there is an option almost everywhere. Last weekend, Clubber showed 64 GAA games across nine counties. Other counties provided their own service. The streaming phenomenon continues.

“That was a record number of games last weekend,” explains CEO and co-founder of Clubber, Jimmy Doyle. A Tipperary native, Covid’s colossal impact on the broadcasting landscape prompted him to embrace this industry.

“We don’t believe that was done in the history of the state — 64 live events on one weekend covered by one provider. We spend a lot of time on the technology and process. 

"For example, we had a big debate about doing the Kerry Junior A championship quarter-finals. We chose not to do them in the end, right now there is a line for us. We have to pay rights fees, production costs, technical streaming fees, VAT etc. The quest is how can we reduce the price of producing games. Then we can do more. That is it in a nutshell.

“Cordal, Knocknagoshel, Tarbert, these areas are passionate about their GAA, smaller communities. The question was can we get 70 people to pay to watch that game? We didn’t think that would happen. If we can continue to drive it, maybe we can get it done for 50. If you are talking to me this time next year, I’d love to be saying yeah, we are showing these games.” 

Clubber cover 11 counties in two provinces currently. An annual pass is priced at €149.99, with a game costing on average €11.99. The price elsewhere varies widely, as does the number of games on offer. Armagh TV, for example, charges £20 for a monthly subscription or £5 per game. Galway GAA TV is priced at €225 for all games, €175 per code or €30 for a weekend pass. Cork’s Rebels Online costs €79.99 or €7.99 for a game.

Club fixtures have never demanded the same resources as intercounty, even in its traditional form. RTÉ have previously pared it down to five cameras including one mobile camera operator and no studio. Now, at this level, the production is much less than that. In Doyle’s mind, most consumers just want to be able to see and hear it clearly.

“A traditional broadcaster has to pay for an OB van. Their costs are probably 30 to 50 grand, and upwards for the really big games. We do things completely differently. We use OTT, over the internet. It has risks. Is there coverage in some pockets? Can you rely on mobile broadband? But it has worked.

“We may get caught once or twice in a couple thousand games. It is worth the risk in terms of what you can deliver. People are reasonable. We might have done 1,000 games in the last 18 months, we will definitely do 1,000 in this calendar year. We have to do a game at less than €1,000 to make it viable. That is the road we are on. 

"At some point there will be an internet or cable problem. We put our hands up, explain it, refund everyone and keep going.” 

Still, there are critics. This is a competitive space. That brings all sorts of fallout. On social media, some rival operators castigate Clubber’s production.

“Look we have thousands of people who are happily watching games,” says Doyle.

“We had the lowest number of questions into support last weekend and the majority are generally, ‘I paid for the wrong game, I can’t get it set up on this particular device.’ 

“It is in the .0001% giving out about quality. The majority are happy to be able to watch the game. The production isn’t comparable to Sky Sports Champions League final with multiple cameras, ultimate picture quality. In a regular users' eyes when you look at one camera close up, it is not much different.

“It is full HD. People won’t accept pixelation on the screen. Is the camera up with the play? Are you getting tight shots and full replays? No, it is not all the bells and whistles. If the sound is bad or the picture is gone, that is below the bar.” 

Streaming is now embedded in the association. Counties that aren’t providing any coverage in 2024, like Limerick, are a complete outlier. This development has brought difficulties though. Tyrone GAA showed every club championship match from senior to junior in 2023. A drop in subscriptions was blamed on modified Firesticks and apps to pirate Live Streams. ‘Dodgy boxes,’ basically.

“This is the single biggest issue we are working on right now,” says Doyle.

“We talked about it as a team last week. We are gung-ho on it for the next few months. We will do our best. It is hard, there are a lot of smart people who are basically illegally taking our stream and they could ruin it for everyone. That is the reality. 

"It is that serious. I support Tyrone on that, it ultimately could ruin this space.” 

Where will it all go? Right now, it is headed in one direction. It hasn’t been a smooth ride, but the industry is pushing onwards. Despite the annual outrage about GAAGO, the general audience is increasingly at ease with paying to stream matches at every level.

“We are up against rising costs with technology, commentators, fuel travelling to games. We have to manage that,” says Doyle. “We have a very dedicated team all over the country who are passionate about this stuff. They are doing it price-consciously.

“I definitely believe more and more games can be shown if the will is there. As long as people want it, it will happen.”