Having dipped in 2022, the subscription revenues at GAAGo surged in 2023 rising to just shy of €5 million, up from €2.3 million. This was ahead of expectations at last year’s Oireachtas Committee meetings and is a proof that the model of partnering between sports rights holder and broadcaster is a winner.
It is also being seen in NFL Game Pass, MLB.com and closer to home with LOITV and URC TV and will inevitably be the case in other major sports.
Pre-tax profits rose from €595,750 to @874,047 making it a significant revenue stream for the Association as a non-profit organisation.
Costs naturally rose with the increase in number of games and raised production values but so long as the end sum is positive that has to be expected.
The clarion call from some, including in politics, that there was no place in the GAA for a Paid Subscription model was a Canute like stance in the face of modern consumption of sport and it is good that the GAA stood firm.
Meeting the challenges of commerciality with special offers targeting clubs and care facilities was sometimes ignored in the rush to criticise but is an important factor in how the majority of fans have come on board.
That is not to say that the exclusivity of key games will be there forever but with so many games to be shown there is still room for multiple broadcast partnerships, perhaps an increase in free-to -air on TG4 or Virgin media in the next round but without that affecting the ability of GAAGo to push out more games again.
It will then become a case of demand driving supply and that will be in our hands as fans.
Wew got to see games through Covid and again last year that would otherwise have played only to those in the stands. We would not expect them to have free entry to matches at the highest level and neither should we consider free-to-air coverage as a right rather than a benefit of living in a country where it still has a place.
Travel further than these islands and you will find that is not as common as we might imagine.
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