GAA’s media rights can be reviewed in light of new championship format

There is a provision to review the GAA’s current media rights deal in light of the new football championship structures adopted at Congress, although this is unlikely to add significantly to the number of live televised games.

Saturday’s decision to adopt Motion 4 – by 76 per cent to 24 – will add eight extra games to the football championship season as part of the ‘Super 8’ round-robin groups, which also replace the All-Ireland quarter-final stage. The top two in each group will to the semi-finals.

This will come into effect for a three-year trial from 2018-20, which will directly overlap with the most recent GAA media rights deal, agreed last December, which runs from 2017-2021.

That was effectively an extension of the existing deal whereby RTÉ and Sky Sports got to retain their current TV packages, although in radio, RTÉ got full commentary rights to all games after Newstalk lost out.

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RTÉ once again got access to 31 senior championship games each year, including all provincial hurling and football finals, both All-Ireland hurling and two All-Ireland football quarter-finals, and the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals in both football and hurling.

Sky Sports also retained their rights to 20 games, 14 of them exclusive, including two All-Ireland football quarter-finals. They will, as previously, broadcast the All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals on a simulcast basis with RTÉ. BBC Northern Ireland will once again broadcast live television coverage from the Ulster senior football championship.

An understanding

That currently makes for a total of 45 games broadcast live across the football and hurling championships. Asked about how the new championship structures will impact on the existing media rights package, specifically television, GAA director-general Páraic Duffy said there was an understanding that existing structures might change within that five-year period.

“We signed the agreements based on the current (structures) but we were aware when we were negotiating with them that it was a possibility there could be change,” he said. “They’ll have no issue around that, it doesn’t make a difference.”

Asked whether this would mean more live television games Duffy said: “No, we’re not obliged to do that. We’ll look at that in terms of support and so on. But, some of these games, for example the last four games will be played all at the same time. So there may be a slight increase in the number of games but it’ll be limited, maybe some.”

The extra games, he said, were not written into the contracts and were therefore unlikely to result in any major financial changes: “It might have an impact on the number of games but it doesn’t affect the financial, none of those things, no. The only difference it might make is that you might show an extra couple of games. But we’ll have to see how it works out. In financial terms, no.”

Meanwhile, the Allianz Football League Division One clash between Tyrone and Cavan has been re-fixed for Healy Park on Sunday, March 12th, with a 2pm throw-in. Sunday’s scheduled encounter was postponed just over half an hour before it was due to start due to a waterlogged pitch at the Omagh venue.