Broadcasting all GAA championship games 'not realistic', GAA to tell committee

The GAA will tell an Oireachtas committee that it is not realistic to expect all championship games to be broadcast on television.

This follows months of controversy over the GAAGO subscription-based screening service, which is co-owned by RTÉ and the GAA.

The Oireachtas Committee on Media will hold hearings looking at the future of sports broadcasting in Ireland.

GAAGO has been severely criticised by politicians, many of whom want all championship games to be free-to-air.

However, the GAA will say that the number of free-to-air games on television is higher than ever before.

It will say that those games that are on GAAGO would previously either have been on Sky TV or more probably not shown at all.

The new arrangements and schedule were launched six months before a sliotar was even pucked, the GAA will say.

It admitted that a late date change for the Clare-Limerick Munster Hurling Championship game set GAAGO on a difficult trajectory for the summer.

The fixture, which was one of the best games of the championship, was originally scheduled to be shown on RTÉ.

The GAA says it wants to generate a fair return from matches and it is seeking to be independent.

However, it says it will look to communicate better and to learn.

Read more5 key questions for RTE and GAA ahead of committee hearing

The committee will also hear from the FAI, IRFU, Sport Ireland and Federation of Irish Sport in its first session this afternoon.

The second session will hear from RTÉ Sport representatives, TG4, Virgin Media, Sky Ireland and independent broadcasters.