GAA confirm two big All-Ireland SFC first round ties to be screened on GAAGO
The GAA have this afternoon confirmed that two big first round All-Ireland senior football round robin games fixed for Saturday May 18 will be shown on GAAGO.
Kerry’s clash with Monaghan, in Killarney at 3pm, will be available only on the pay-per-view platform, as will the meeting of newly-crowned Connacht champions Galway and Derry at 5.30pm later that same evening.
That weekend’s two Munster hurling matches, crucial fixtures, will both be shown on RTÉ.
On Sunday, Cork travel to Thurles to take on Tipperary after Waterford’s trip to Cusack Park to face Clare.
Both the GAA and RTÉ, partners in the GAAGO venture, have come in for strong criticism for putting much of the early-summer hurling action behind the streaming service’s paywall.
In the past, they have faced accusations of cherry picking the big interest fixtures in a bid to boost subscriber numbers and a failure to give some of the season’s best action the widest possible exposure.
This weekend’s big game between Cork and Limerick, which could see the Rebels exit the championship at the earliest possible stage, is only available to watch if you have a GAAGO subscription.
As was last Saturday’s tumultuous draw between Waterford and Tipperary, plus Wexford’s shock win over Galway.
Having raised the hackles of some hurling supporters in the early part of the year, it may be the turn of football followers from here on in as the GAA continues to try and find a way of striking a balance between promotion and boosting viewership and subscriber numbers at a time when there has never been more televised games.
In the last three years, RTÉ have increased their number of live inter-county matches from 31 to 68.
The BBC have gone from having two live games to four exclusive matches, two simulcast with RTÉ and two highlights shows, adding up to 10 league games and additional club highlights packages.
Over 200 Gaelic games matches will be screened free-to-air in 2024.
Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan’s exclusive take on the day’s news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.