No magic wand to boost marketing

Special Congress in Rosslare last Saturday. Sunny south-east meets Atlantis and drowns. As the torrential rain buffeted the conference hall, the debate on the experimental reforms to the Guinness hurling championship buffeted the delegates. It was a foregone conclusion that the reforms would continue for a further period of probation so other aspects of the discourse drizzled into the consciousness.

Such as the GAA pre-occupation with pursuing the best of all possible worlds. For instance, former president Con Murphy told the delegates he was in favour of the positive elements of the reforms but wanted the knockout format restored. Given that the positive elements substantially comprised the consequences of abandoning knockout - more matches, TV coverage and revenue - this was a desire which would have kept even the Hurling Development Committee busy until well into the new millennium.

This syndrome is also evident in the frequent ruminations on the subject of television and its promotional value as applied to Gaelic games - a subject that gained topicality last week when the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Sile de Valera, launched her proposal for the protection of certain sporting and cultural events from the clutches of pay-per-view or subscription television.

There is nothing new in all of this. Minister de Valera's predecessor Michael D. Higgins had published a White Paper on the subject during the life of the last administration. The current government intends to introduce its own legislation to give effect to the EU Broadcasting Directive of June 1997 (Television Without Frontiers), recognising the rights of member states to draw up events of national importance.

Although there has been no official response from the GAA to the Minister's preliminary plans sources in Croke Park are wary of the proposal.

When the subject was beginning to surface approximately two years ago, sufficient note of it was taken for GAA director general Liam Mulvihill to include a detailed reference in his annual report to the 1997 Congress. It was an interesting broadside on the whole question of television and the association.

"It was disappointing, however, late in the year (1996) to read comments by politicians from at least two political parties about preventing the GAA from selling its major games to any pay-per-view broadcaster. The association has no plans to become involved in this type of deal but it is unfair to deal with the association in such a selective way .. . The association should retain the right to sell its games in the same way as any other sporting organisation; otherwise it will have to operate at an unfair disadvantage. A similar restriction on the other major sports organisations would not have the same impact as they have a number of away fixtures outside the jurisdiction and they already enjoy the benefits of international deals."

In itself, this wasn't surprising. At a media briefing in late 1995, Mulvihill specifically refused to rule out the possibility of the GAA's dealing with satellite television. Although the above text disclaims any immediate intention of dealing with subscription or pay-per-view channels, the inference is clear: the GAA wants the option kept open.

Sky Sports' acquisition of the rights to English Premiership soccer has long occupied the minds of GAA people. There have been calls for the association to utilise television-driven marketing to turn the football and hurling products into equivalents of English soccer, replete with nonstop hype and constantly cranked-up hysteria. Mulvihill's 1997 report also states:

"Whether we like it or not, we are in a position where our product on television is compared not with the competing domestic field games, but with the best of the professional Leagues in Britain and beyond. To have any hope of competing at this level for the hearts and minds of young people we must have games which are presented professionally and in a modern idiom but we must also have television coverage which highlights the positive, attractive modern aspects of our games and which is at one with us in seeking to sell and promote the product. This coverage must be organised in such a way that it extends over the complete season and it must include good quality previews and promotional pieces to increase the television audience for the games. We must also ensure that promotional material is organised as a part of the overall sales package to maximise the impact of the broadcasts of the games."

The problem is that there is no magic wand which can be waved over Gaelic games to turn them into soccer and failure to appreciate that will drive the GAA down a cul de sac. Aside from the breach of Rule 4 (c) of the Official Guide - supporting Irish industry - the siren call of pay-per-view should be resisted for practical reasons.

Once a sport sups with pay-per-view or subscription, it disappears off the graph of public audiences. Soccer in Ireland has always fed off the English League and the recent upsurge in the sport's fortunes has far more to do with success on the international stage than the money spent by Sky. Audience figures show that even a top fixture live on Sky - say, Arsenal v Manchester United - will command only between a quarter and a fifth (c. 2,000,000) of the average audience which watches terrestrially-broadcast highlights on BBC's Match of the Day (c.8-9,000,000).

Only a year or so ago, Irish rugby people were bemoaning the lack of exposure the sport was receiving at a time when Irish players were featuring prominently on the Lions tour of South Africa. The rights had been sewn up by Sky Sports and for the majority of the public here, the tour didn't exist.

Mulvihill's contention about international sport - away matches won't be covered - has to an extent been overtaken by events because the EU Directive has given countries the right to draw up a similar list to the one proposed by Minister de Valera and the British government is also looking into the matter. Assuming, for example, rugby internationals make that list, it means that the entire Five Nations will be covered by the directive.

What is frequently overlooked in the comparison between English premiership soccer and Gaelic games is that Sky Sports have 20 teams playing each other twice on a weekly basis over eight months. At best, the GAA has 32 counties sporadically eliminating each other on a knockout basis over four months.

Galway, the best team in the country, played five times (including a replay) over four months in the recent championship. The first team they beat was Mayo - one of at least the top six teams in the country - who then had no more matches.

The man who could market that stopped performing miracles 2000 years ago.