Last year, emigrants were able to watch live coverage of the Mayo senior and intermediate finals. The matches were streamed by 'Local Streaming', a website established by Liam Horan and Anthony Moran, the former being an ex-Irish Independent journalist.
12,165 people watched online from 48 different countries. Another thousand watched the game after the live coverage ended.
However, some officials within the GAA are worried about streaming, and its presumed impact on the association's coffers.
Paddy McNicholas, Mayo's representative on the Connacht Council, raised the matter at a meeting of the county board last week.
His comments were reported by The Western People.
There were a number of club games streamed within our own county in the past year, where people could watch those games at home on their phone or on their computers, and this is certainly having an effect on the finances of the county board and indeed clubs.
This county might want to put in place a policy to address this technology in the future.
These are legitimate concerns. If people choose to stay at home and watch on the internet rather than trooping into McHale Park, then that will cost Mayo money.
However, one might consider those abroad who are unable to attend matches. Online streaming has been a wonderful development. Liam Horan spoke to Conall Cahill of Balls.ie last November about the feedback they've received from users.
We get messages from people saying ‘I’m here with nine or ten of my local friends in Abu Dhabi. Only two of them have ever seen a Gaelic football match before but they have come over to see my club play'...
In a world that has been shrunk communications-wise maybe it brings us back to local in some ways...it’s incredible to think that something as simple as Westport vs Kiltimagh in the Mayo intermediate final can mean so much to people from Westport and Kiltimagh - and other places - (who live) around the world.
That they could gather somewhere and watch the game meant so much to people.
It's already the case that those seeking to stream games online must abide by regulations from Croke Park. The current rules say permission must be granted by the county board. This is also contingent on whether TG4 is screening the match. If so, then permission will be denied.
We're not sure which games in Mayo were being referred to above. It's possible the streaming of the county finals wasn't the contentious issue.
But the comments from the Mayo county board indicate a more restrictive policy is being considered. That would surely be regretted by those abroad.
For a more detailed account of the world of online streaming, read this article on Local Streaming from last November.
