The GAA Gods have delivered and drawn four epic All-Ireland football quarter-final draws, with Kerry and Tyrone set to clash in a mammoth game on Saturday evening. However, GAA fans - especially those in the Kingdom - have been left bitterly disappointed by the news that Kerry v Tyrone will be shown behind the GAA's controversial paywall GAAGO.
Amid a turbulent week for RTE and a turbulent summer for GAAGO, yesterday's GAA fixtures publication again caused uproar. GAAGO had always been set to broadcast two exclusive quarterfinals on Saturday. The option to schedule Kerry v Tyrone away from the Dublin v Mayo quarterfinal ensure that the All-Ireland champions would again be playing on GAAGO.
In the 2023 Championship, Kerry have played six Championship games, and just one of those games has been shown live on terrestrial TV. Four others including their shock loss to Mayo was aired being behind a pay wall, while their potential knockout game with Louth wasn't shown at all.
Now the lack of coverage for the All-Ireland champions seems to be reaching a boiling point, as fans fear GAAGO will block out elderly people and others who can't afford or operate the streaming service.
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Healy Rae's join Kerry fans slamming GAAGO
There's been huge criticism down in Kerry to the decision to have Kerry play on Saturday.
Speaking to The Kerryman, Kerry county councillor Jackie Healy-Rae yesterday slammed the decision to show Kerry v Tyrone on GAAGO as 'pure money grabbing' questioning why Dublin's game is live on RTÉ.
To have Kerry and Tyrone not on TV is just scandalous. It’s crazy and pure money grabbing.
Supporters of the GAAGO model say it creates an opportunity to see games that would otherwise not be on mainstream TV... However, having to subscribe to see two of the GAA’s heavyweights in an All-Ireland quarter-final is evidence of GAAGO heading down the ‘box-office’ route
It’s interesting that Dublin isn’t behind a paywall..... There are plenty things that RTÉ could cut to ensure Kerry and Tyrone is free-to-air. They have just spoiled it with this nonsense.
While Cllr Healy-Rae raises interesting points on the intentions of GAAGO and what effect it will have on one of the hottest football games of the season, Dublin's coverage on terrestrial TV has been far from widespread, with their provincial semi-final against Kildare as well as all three of their round robin games being streamed on GAAGO over RTÉ.
The sentiment was echoed by his father TD Michael Healy-Rae who took to Twitter to share his discontent along with many other Kerry supporters on social media.
Scandalous is right, well said !! https://t.co/5w1CgNeVWr
— Michael Healy-Rae (@MHealyRae) June 26, 2023
GAAGO is a joint venture of RTÉ and the GAA. Yesterday it was confirmed that RTÉ's former director general Dee Forbes had also resigned her place on the board of GAAGO.
After already sustaining substantial criticism earlier in the season, and RTÉ's recent reputational worries, this latest controversy will do very little to help garner support for GAAGO or RTÉ.
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