“We’ll be showing the action from Nowlan Park very shortly, where Wexford lead Kilkenny by three points to two.”
That was what hurling fans tuning into Sky Sports were told, by host Rachel Wyse, as they tried to figure out what had happened to Wexford vs. Kilkenny.
Sky had the run of GAA broadcasting matters on Saturday and they opted to start off at Páirc Tailteann with the Senior Football Championship Qualifiers clash between Meath and Tyrone. They would then be switching to Nowlan Park for coverage of the Cats and Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford.
All was going according to plan until Cathal McShane kicked an equaliser for Tyrone at the very, very, very end of injury time. The players headed for the sideline for some refreshments and Sky took a break.
Despite having a clatter of channels and full broadcast teams set up at both grounds, the decision was made to stick with the football through extra time. Hurling fans would have to wait. Folks who had paid €10 to watch the game on GAA Go didn’t get to watch the action either because the stream get their feed from Sky Sports.
Tyrone eventually put Meath to bed and coverage then switched to Nowlan Park, 23 minutes deep into the first half. What viewers missed was a rollicking start that saw Wexford storm ahead of Brian Cody’s side in a game they were clearly desperate to win.
The decision to stick with the football and not even switch the hurling to another channel, or even a ‘red button’, left many GAA fans enraged but Sky Sports have at least met the matter head-on. On Saturday night, they released the following statement:
— Sky Sports GAA (@SkySportsGAA) June 9, 2018
One would imagine that, between the GAA and the broadcaster, some sort of contingency would have been made for a game that everyone knew could go to extra time if the scores were level at full-time.
It was a frustrating blip for many but Sky, by their statement, have acknowledged it and will look to have a plan in place to avoid heading down such a path again.
