Kerry proposes return of GAA action to free-to-air TV

The Gaelic Athletic Association’s (GAA) Kerry County Board will propose a motion at the 2016 GAA Annual Convention to return live coverage of championship matches to free-to-air television in the Republic of Ireland.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky has broadcast GAA coverage for the past two championship seasons, but Kerry announced that it will put forward the motion ahead of the start of the next rights cycle, starting in 2017.

The motion states “at the conclusion of the current TV broadcast rights contract, that all televised games be available on free-to-air TV.”

Kerry County Board chairman Patrick O’Sullivan told Irish public-service broadcaster RTE: “The feeling is strong on the ground over this. Not everyone is able to get to games and for those people, radio and television are their main way of staying in touch with what’s happening in the GAA. You have to see how people in some parts of the country look at this. On the western seaboard it’s very different to Dublin, where the economic upturn has been a lot faster. The decision to deal with Sky was taken when money was continuing to get a lot tighter for people.”