Expect more of this between now and the end of next summer.
The GAA’s controversial three-year deal with Sky Sports runs until the end of the 2016 Championship and the calls to sever ties with the pay-per-view broadcaster are going to grow louder before then.
Kerry are the latest county to propose a motion to Congress calling for an end to the association, following in the footsteps of Clare, whose motion failed to make the clár earlier this year.
Still, anger with the network is real and, like Howard Beale in the film Network, Kerry want Croke Park to know “They’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it any more”. Or not after September 2016, at least.
“At the conclusion of the current TV broadcast rights contract, that all televised games be available on free-to-air TV,” reads the motion, which Kerry hopes will prevent the GAA from signing another deal with Sky.
The current deal provides the broadcaster with exclusive rights to 14 championship matches each year, as well as shared coverage with RTÉ of the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals in both football and hurling.
The bidding process for the rights renewal could be interesting. TV3 have flexed their muscles in the sporting sphere by buying up rights to the World Cup and Six Nations in Rugby, while Setanta have been taken over by telecommunications firm Eir, who have plans to replicate the success of BT Sports in the UK.
It could be a very profitable deal for the GAA, who enjoyed a bumper year in the Kingdom. The Kerry County Board reported profits of €907,417 this year, more than doubling the 2014 performance thanks to a very active overseas fundraising campaign.
There is money to be earned from foreign investors, just not ones named Murdoch seemingly.
