Commercial success of GAAGO means it is here to stay

Anybody watching the Oireachtas Committee on Sport and Media will be clear on one thing: GAAGO is here to stay.

This is because it is too important for both the GAA and RTÉ.

The GAA's Ard Stiúrthóir Tom Ryan told the Committee that the body will accrue €4 million in revenue from GAAGO annually.

Meanwhile, RTÉ’s Head of Sport Declan McBennett said any profits it makes from the company will be used to buy more sports rights to be broadcast free-to-air.

Despite an outpouring of frustration and anger about the locking of high-profile matches behind a paywall, GAAGO is a successful commercial venture. It will generate millions in revenue.

But the profits, the committee heard, will be used - one way or another - to benefit sports fans in this country, either through enhanced access to sports rights on RTÉ, or in the case of the GAA - to fund the community-based organisation.

Among the biggest criticisms of GAAGO is that it is a form of double taxation. People who pay their TV licence to watch sport, are asked to stump up again to pay to watch their county team.

This is flatly rejected by RTÉ which states that its involvement in the company allows it to purchase more sports to show on free-to-air television.

And the GAA points out that the platform gives subscribers the opportunity to see games, which otherwise would not be shown on television at all.

The other criticism of RTÉ and the GAA has been that they placed some high-profile matches behind a paywall to drive profits for GAAGO.

This is also rejected by RTÉ’s Head of Sport, who guided the committee through the labyrinthine process of how matches are selected for television: RTÉ is contracted to show 31 games, there are 16 it is obliged to show, and it has discretion on the