Sport Minister says Kerry-Donegal paywall 'unfortunate' but Government can't intervene in GAA+ debate

Minister of State for Sport Charlie McConalogue said it would be “a step that would be going too far” for the Government to get involved in which GAA games are shown free to air.

GAA+ microphones Pic:   ©INPHO/James Crombie

Minister of State for Sport Charlie McConalogue said it is “unfortunate” and “really challenging” that the Kerry-Donegal All-Ireland SFC, Round 1 game will not be shown free-to-air on Saturday.

However, McConalogue said it would be “a step that would be going too far” for the Government to intervene in the GAA’s broadcasting process other than upholding the statutory free-to-air games, the All-Ireland finals and semi-finals.

The Donegal-born minister also confirmed there are no plans to expand that list of matches. The previous government had looked into the possibility of adding All-Ireland quarter-finals – two of the football last-eight fixtures are shown on GAA+.

In response to a question by Fine Gael Kerry senator Mike Kenneally, brother of late Kerry great Tim, McConalogue said: “It is certainly unfortunate that we will not be seeing a free-to-air event on this occasion.

“I would have liked that to be the case, but this is ultimately a call for the GAA, and that is where it is appropriate for the State to intervene in a way that is making directions in relation to what games are and are not outside of the big showcases. The finals, for example, over the course of the year would be a step that would be going too far.” 

Kenneally called on the Government to invite the GAA to meet the Oireachtas sports committee and start a conversation around the number of games that are not shown free-to-air.

He said: “Nobody gave up their evenings and weekends so that one day the biggest championship games could be locked behind a subscription service. That is why people feel so strongly that the games are being taken away from the very people who built them.

“There is something fundamentally unfair about asking lifelong supporters, many of whom gave decades of voluntary service to the GAA, to now take out another subscription just to watch their own county team in championship season.”

Kenneally confirmed he would not be attending the game or watching it on GAA+ but listening to commentary of it on Radio Kerry.

He insisted the GAA have a responsibility to the people who sustain it. “In 2024, the Government provided €97 million in public funding to the GAA. That is taxpayers' money. It comes from ordinary people, the same people who fill the stands, who keep the clubs alive and who give their time freely year after year.”

Kenneally continued: “We saw this clearly over the last weekend, the Tipperary versus Clare Munster hurling match. RTÉ offered to show it, but the GAA refused. Why refuse free access when the public already funds the association so heavily?

“The Government will and should continue to support the GAA because it plays an extraordinary role in Irish life and in communities across the country. But the GAA has a responsibility to remain accessible to the people who sustain it.” 

GAA Director of Communications Alan Milton speaking during the GAA Annual Report launch at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s “Morning Ireland” on Thursday, GAA director of communications Alan Milton said GAA+ carries high-profile games to be a credible streaming service.

Referring to the Kerry-Donegal game, he remarked: “While this is a massive game, there's no doubting that, I'm sure the people of Westmeath and indeed Roscommon and others would argue that the games that they were involved in in provincial finals in recent weeks were free-to-air and most of the games remain over the course of the year. With 300 games broadcast, 90% of them are free-to-air. So, it's going to be a blend going forward.

“We've one free-to-air partner, or two if you include the BBC, and it's simply not possible for all the games to be free-to-air and you will have noticed that there's four magazine programmes free-to-air this year between games midweek on GAA+. There's investment in studio.

“GAA+ can't just carry games that are of mediocre interest from time to time, depending on how the games fall and how they're scheduled by the CCCC (Central Competitions Control Committee) and the packages that GAA+ has, which are packages five and six out of 20 packages, they will get plum games and I think they need to, if it's to be a credible platform for broadcast, it needs to have games that are high billing or high attraction.” 

For “commercial reasons”, Milton said the numbers viewing GAA+ are not released by the company. “They're not made public. They're not publicly shared, but they would be known, obviously, to the people who organise it, the system and who are in charge of it.”