Amateur ethos faces a digital challenge

The mellowing of the seasons which ushers in All-Ireland finals and their attendant press nights also reminds us that the annual media column - deciduous as the leaves - falls around now. This weekend, the issue has been given added impetus by events in England.

News of BSkyB and its apparently imminent acquisition of Manchester United FC/PLC has implications for sport in general. The immediate debate on the merits of a broadcaster buying one of the organisations it covers - much as BSkyB might acquire the Conservative Party (although that, being blue and useless, would be more of a Manchester City purchase) to give Sky News a bit of leverage in the political programming market - needn't detain Gaels for the moment.

Yet coverage of football and hurling is sure to respond to developing technology, and nowhere will that storm-trooping advance be felt more than on the fault lines of the GAA's amateurism policy.

It was noted by last November's report of the association's amateur status committee that the GAA had both a limited market and an even more limited outlet for international competition. Consequently, Croke Park is unlikely to find itself awash in a flood of television loot.

Nonetheless, the threat posed to amateurism (even the diluted version now in place within the GAA) will come with digital television. That technology's imminent arrival has been referred to in each of the last two annual reports from the director general, Liam Mulvihill.

Against this backdrop, moves are afoot to protect coverage of major sports events for terrestrial television. The Labour Party introduced a private member's bill in June seeking to give legislative effect to the EU broadcasting directive of June 1997, recognising the rights of member states to draw up events of national importance.

The relevant minister, Michael D Higgins, Sile de Valera's predecessor, had published a White Paper on the subject during the life of the last administration. But the bill was defeated by this Government, which intends to introduce its own legislation on the subject.

Linking amateurism and digital television may seem tenuous. The GAA has survived an explosion of television coverage in the last three years without the fabric of the games being much affected. But what's coming is different.

Digital broadcasting won't be confined to satellites: terrestrial stations will also have a go at it. It will be an all-pervasive technology. Later stages of the All-Ireland championships may be preserved for terrestrials, but all the rest of the matches are likely to be up for grabs.

Given that there appears to be no shortage of digital capacity, a broad range of material will in all likelihood become available. The consequent multiplication of viewing options is bound to bring with it subscription TV in some form or other.

It hasn't been altogether irrelevant to winning titles that some counties are wealthier and more populous than others, and this will naturally have an effect on who subscribes to what. The GAA will attempt to hold the line on the pooling of television rights, but even in terms of what sponsors are prepared to offer for regular exposure, current restraints are bound to come under pressure.

Amateurism and the media is a current topic for another reason. Press nights are designed to facilitate reporters in gaining a superficial access to as many players as possible. Most journalists plan accordingly. Lengthier interviews can be arranged a day or two before the official event and no one generally minds.

Maybe the public wonders what the players and management get out of this. There's only one significant benefit for them: getting the thing out of the way well in advance of the big day.

One or two intrepid reporters might fancy their chances of tracking down a player in the week leading up to an All-Ireland, but most would rather not be depending on the prospect, just as the players could do without having to spend time dodging inquiries.

Last week it was the turn of Kilkenny and Offaly. There was a full turnout in Tullamore, minus goalkeeper Stephen Byrne who had been laid low with the flu. Kilkenny proved less enthusiastic, with nearly half the first team absent.

Internationally, the recognition by professional sports of the importance of media coverage is implicit in the authorities' insistence on players making themselves available to reporters. Talking to the public is part of your job as a professional sports person.

The GAA cannot reasonably have such control over its players. Yet access to players is important in promoting the games, albeit that the distinction has to be made between organised promotion and the incidental promotion that derives from journalism.

There hasn't yet been a crisis in the no-man's land between the needs of reporters and the wishes of players, but it's coming. Kilkenny's relative lack of co-operation wasn't anything new, because the last couple of years have seen the system slowly breaking down.

Over the last two seasons there has been a slow disengagement from the process. It began last year with Mayo players scuttling out of a back door before the semi-final, and later mounting a desultory All-Ireland press night.

Kerry established their pattern of holding a Saturday afternoon open session. They were told not to talk to reporters outside of that. This year it reached the absurd level of expecting media to attend an event at the same time as the third Clare-Offaly match in Thurles. Players were missing from Tipperary's All-Ireland media event 12 months ago.

It used be possible to run a one-line quote from every single player on the weekend of the match. Not all of the players would be present at press nights and you might have to scramble a bit to get the last one or two, but it was a feasible project. Not anymore. You'd crack up trying to collect a full set of 30.

There are bullets to be bitten here. County boards want sponsors' money. Sponsors want publicity. Teams and their activities are the most obvious focus of that. Yet players and management are showing increasing signs of wanting to shun publicity.

At the same time, sponsors are involving themselves more and more in bankrolling the exotic holidays now apparently de rigueur for top teams. Product endorsement by players is also now allowed - presumably on the basis of their media profiles. Interaction with media isn't an entirely one-way process and amateurism is no longer a blanket defence for non-co-operation.

There's no point in exaggerating the problem at present, but plainly the question of amateurism and the media could reach a thorny impasse long before the advent of digital television.