The controversy surrounding the broadcast of the GAA All-Ireland championships continues, and was ramped up this week by a statement by Virgin Media in which the broadcaster claimed not to have been offered the chance to compete for rights to broadcast the Liam MacCarthy and Sam Maguire championships.
The 2023 season has seen GAA GO ramped up in Ireland, filling the gap left by Sky Sports after the British broadcaster chose to end their association with the GAA.
GAAGO has proven divisive, however, with many - including pundits on RTÉ, and the Tánaiste - claiming that is has hampered the visibility of the intercounty championships.
Earlier this week, RTÉ head of sport Declan McBennett appeared on the station's Six One News to field questions on whether RTÉ (who are 50% shareholders in GAAGO) had been given unfair access to the broadcast rights.
McBennett's appearance came after a statement from Virgin Media which claimed:
When Sky Television decided not to renew its GAA rights, the GAA did not approach other broadcasters to ascertain whether they would be interested in broadcasting these games but arbitrarily decided to put them behind a paywall.
With the debate showing no signs of abating, the GAA have now made a public statement in response to the claims from Virgin Media.
GAA: Association responds to Virgin Media statement
In a statement released on Wednesday evening, the GAA rebutted Virgin Media's claims that they - and other broadcasters - had not been offered the chance to bid for broadcast rights for the All-Ireland men's football and hurling championships. The GAA's statement claimed that Virgin Media's had "contained several factual errors and misleading comments."
On Tuesday May 9th, VMTV (Virgin Media Television) issued a statement that called into question the integrity of the GAA Media Rights process. The statement contained several factual errors and misleading comments which obliges the GAA to correct the record. #GAABelong
— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 10, 2023
The GAA sought to "correct the record" in their response to Virgin Media, and explained the process they had followed to find a suitable replacement for Sky Sports ahead of the 2023 championship summer.
They said that they had sought to gauge interest in rights packages for 2023 and beyond from Virgin Media ("VMTV") and others as early as February 2021. The GAA claimed that, after details were shared of the packages available, no bid was received from Virgin Media, even after the GAA reached out a second time to confirm that they did not intend to bid for the rights packages.
The GAA's statement went on to say:
"VMTV were clear that their modeal was not to acquire rights but rather to acquire 'ready to go' packages ie productions which don't require outside broadcast set-ups for live match coverage.
"In short, VMTV were afforded every opportunity to discuss options, variations to packages and to submit a confidential offer. VMTV chose not to bid.
"GAA continued discussions with other parties.
"Specifically in respect of one party, the GAA was unable to deliver Sky's preferred selection as strategically we wanted greater free to air coverage for our National League package. These rights subsequently went to TG4 and RTÉ. Whilst Sky did bid for a lesser package, the GAA decided to progress with GAAGO.
"This was because GAAGO could facilitate greater flexibility on match schedules, provide coverage for an additional 24 games and offer the opportunity for more flexible pricing for viewers and members. The finances involved were in fact similar."
In their statement, the GAA said that, in the interest of maximising coverage and supporting the Irish language, they tended to "bias toward 'Free to Air' and TG4." They also said that they sought to "generate a fair commercial value for our rights."
The GAA have confirmed a full review of the operation of GAAGO will follow at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
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