Spectre of pay-for-play looms for GAA, again

*The GAA rarely crosses a river that someone doesn’t mistake for the Rubicon, but the announcement this week that exclusive television rights have been issued to subscription channel Sky Sports marks the first time the jewel in the association’s crown – its summer championship matches – have been put behind a pay-wall.

Which is pretty radical.

It has also aggravated a lot of people. It can be hard to start charging for material the public is accustomed to getting for free. Aside from the disappointment of those who can’t get to matches and rely on live broadcasts, the most pressing concerns have centred on what happens next.

Will Sky’s package of 14 exclusive matches prove so successful for it that it will insist on taking slices from the RTÉ free-to-air cake?

This will be up to the GAA but no-one is forced to do deals with Sky and most sports do it for the money. If money isn’t the primary concern, as Croke Park maintain, there would be little incentive to risk further uproar in three years’ time.

There has also been concern over the future of amateurism. If the GAA conclude deals of this nature, will players not rise up and demand that they be remunerated for their part in generating this income?

So far there isn’t a great deal of evidence to support this. The Gaelic Players Association has broadly welcomed the announcement and although they are now operating under the Croke Park umbrella, they remain the representative body for inter-county players.

Suppose the GPA view isn’t shared by its membership: will players revolt?

Overseas exposure
The problem with this scenario is that the actual increase in revenue to the GAA isn't enormous – believed to be about €1 million for an annual total of €11 million. Instead the association has emphasised the greater exposure overseas the games will receive.

Broadcasting revenue has been a significant part of the GAA’s earnings for the best part of 20 years. Should the identity of the channel which hands over that revenue, rather than the actual amount, mean the prospects of professionalism have increased?

There is little appetite within the membership for a change that would alter the provisions on amateur status.

The spectre of pay-for-play has haunted every major commercial initiative taken by the GAA over the years: sponsorship of county teams and names on jerseys (1991), the unveiling of corporate facilities in the redeveloped Croke Park (1995), subscription television coverage of the national league (2004), the opening of Croke Park to rugby and soccer (2005), a grant scheme for inter-county players (2008). All have come to pass but no dire consequences have followed.

Will the taking away of nine free-to-air matches (the other five in the Sky package are additional fixtures not available last year) and the influx of a few extra million over three years radically change that?

What do you think?