GAA faces 'stark' choice when it comes to broadcasting

The GAA faces a choice between broadcasting some games on GAAGO or not broadcasting them at all, according to the association's director of communications Alan Milton.

A total of 38 exclusive GAA championship games will be streamed by GAAGO in 2024, with nine hurling championship (five Leinster and four Munster), 22 football championship and seven Tailteann Cup games included in their package.

Dónal Óg Cusack told RTÉ Sport yesterday that putting certain games on the platform, including three of his native Cork's Munster hurling fixtures, did nothing for the promotion of the sport.

Elsewhere, former Mayo footballer, and current Fine Gael TD for Mayo, Alan Dillon said that unreliable broadband in certain parts of the country means matches on GAAGO would be out of reach for certain followers of our national games.

But Milton, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, said that the choice wasn't between showing the games on a subscription service or free to air. Rather it was a choice between broadcasting the games, and not broadcasting the games.

"When we have a condensed season, and one free-to-air partner, the choice is pretty stark," Milton said.

"Either these games go on to GAAGO or they're not available whatsoever. In fairness to RTÉ, on the weekends in question when the Cork games are on GAAGO, they're showing Clare v Limerick.

"For game number two they're showing Limerick versus Tipperary, followed by Galway v Kilkenny. And for the third weekend they're showing two provincial finals on the Sunday.

"So it simply comes down to a matter of slots. When we went to the marketplace there was one free-to-air broadcast partner to emerge. In that scenario the only other alternative for the GAA was to put its energies into GAAGO, which we