No game for older viewers? GAAGO acts an ‘invisible barrier’ for fans, says charity

Age Action, which advocates for older people in Ireland, has claimed that GAAGO is creating an “invisible barrier” for older hurling and football fans who have no online access or cannot afford the streaming service.

GAAGO was launched nine years ago. Its aim was to facilitate persons of Irish origin worldwide to watch GAA matches online. The service expanded last October after Sky Sports’ broadcasting deal with the GAA came to an end.

In an interview with Newstalk Breakfast, Age Action public affairs officer Nat O’Connor said many older people were not using the internet.

“It’s an invisible barrier that people don’t have the technology or the wherewithal to access these games online and it’s not a small issue. Our concern would be that it is really important that everybody can take part in GAA. It is part of the fabric of society. For many people they have been loyal followers of the GAA all their lives.

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“It is not a small issue. Three in ten older people would not be using the internet at all and another three in ten who would be using the internet but would have basic skills. They would not be up to doing financial transactions online. They might not be comfortable in buying services. It adds up to a large number of people. So as a result they are missing out.”

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Tánaiste Micheál Martin weighed into the controversy on Monday, and called on the GAA to review its policy of showing some of its major games on the pay-per-view streaming service.

“I think they [GAA matches] should be free to air - that’s a personal view that I have held for a long, long time. We want more and more people to see hurling being played like it was on Saturday with Cork and Tipp and last week with Clare and Limerick; it’ something that should be reviewed.”

Asked about Age Action’s intervention while in Cork on Monday, Mr Martin continued: “I think the games should be free to air… I think hurling would benefit because if we want to continue to brand hurling as one of the great iconic identifiers of Ireland, one of the great games played at a very high quality, we want more people to see it and I think it’s something that should be reviewed for the benefit of hurling itself.”

Speaking earlier, Mr O’Connor said: “There is a creeping increase in the numbers of things going online. There is a lot of major matches which would have been available that are no longer available but are on GAAGO.”

It meant a large portion of the population was excluded from watching GAA matches, the Age Action official said.

“We’re talking over 600,000 people at the moment, who are effectively digitally excluded because they’re not using the internet because they don’t have the skills,” he said.

Mr O’Connor added the increase in cashless sport venues has also led to more older fans who don’t use card payments preferring to watch matches from home.

“Many people will [use GAAGO] - but our concern is lots of people on the state pension can’t afford subscription and don’t have broadband,” he said.

However, former GAA president Liam O’Neill said he believed the streaming service included a wider audience rather than excluding fans.

“There are 15 games next Saturday – with all due respect, no channel can show all those,” he said.

“GAAGO is a means through which you can watch some games – not all games, but some games will be able to shown next Saturday.”

Mr O’Neill said the GAA was probably one of the most inclusive organisations in the world.

“The GAAGO is far from being exclusive. It is inclusive. It was set up at the time we did the Sky deal and it was for people who lived abroad. It was only accessible to people who lived abroad and the complaint at that time was that it wasn’t accessible to people in Ireland.

“Then when the pandemic came GAAGO was a means by which a huge number of extra games were made available to people who couldn’t have gotten to see them because they couldn’t get out.”

Mr O’Neill that he was a pensioner himself and understood the age group. He described GAAGO as being in the main a “positive development” which opens up the possibility to GAA fans of watching more matches rather than less.

He argued that any fan of GAA would learn how to use GAAGO online if they wanted to watch a match.

“I am going to Bruce Springsteen tomorrow night. I can’t use a paper ticket I have to have a special download on my phone. I am putting up with that because I want to go to the concert. It’s only going one way.“

A spokesman for the Department for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, said the management of broadcasts “is a matter for the GAA”, adding: “Designation of any event can only take place after the prescribed consultation process, seeking input from the public and from stakeholders, has been completed. Key in the consideration of events to be designated as free to air is a balancing of the impact on sporting organisations and the benefits to the public. As such, the process includes undertaking an independent economic assessment which weighs the economic effect of designation to the organisation against the potential benefit to society of the designation.

“Finally, it is necessary to engage with the European Commission before a list of events to be designed is finalised and the necessary Orders laid before the House of the Oireachtas.

“While the initial consultation process has been undertaken, it was decided to pause the process and allow for a full, uninterrupted season of sporting events to take place, following the necessary COVID-19 public health restrictions which had impacted the sporting calendar in 2020 and 2021. It should be noted that designation of an event as free to air does not place an obligation on broadcasters to acquire rights and show the event.”