Gaelic Athletic Association commercial director Peter McKenna has said a new online streaming platform developed in partnership with Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ has greater long-term value than the association’s rights deal with pay-television broadcaster BSkyB.
RTÉ’s new GAAGO subscription-based online streaming service will be available to supporters worldwide outside of Ireland. All games televised by RTÉ and Sky from the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football and Hurling Championships will be available to watch on the service.
Games can be viewed on any internet-enabled device including mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
McKenna said at GAAGO’s launch: “Personally I think this is the most important part of the broadcasting deal. This is setting our future out. In 10 years I think we’ll look back and say this is probably the most important thing we’ve done.”
A worldwide ‘GAAGO Season Pass’, excluding Ireland and Great Britain, will feature coverage of all games broadcast by RTÉ and Sky. The pass is priced at €110 ($153).
For Great Britain, which comprises England, Scotland and Wales, 25 games broadcast by RTÉ will be available on GAAGO. Games broadcast by Sky will only be available through Sky. The ‘GAAGO GB Pass’ is priced at €60.
A pay-per-view service is priced at €10 for each game. For the quarter-final, semi-final and final stages of the All-Ireland Championships, the pay-per-view price is €14 for each game.
GAAGO will launch in mid-June. Until then, the RTÉ Player online streaming service will provide free worldwide streaming of GAA Championship matches. Sky-broadcast games will be unavailable on RTÉ Player to Irish and Great Britain audiences.
RTÉ, Sky and fellow pay-television broadcaster Setanta Sports, and Irish-language free-to-air broadcaster TG4 were last month awarded rights in Ireland for GAA hurling and Gaelic football tournaments in three-year deals, covering 2014-15 to 2016-17.