Competition watchdog has not finished inquiries into GAAGO one year after concerns raised over clearance
by theeglitz
Competition watchdog has not finished inquiries into GAAGO one year after concerns raised over clearance
by theeglitz
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Some select quotes from the article for you.
>The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) only gave its blessing to the joint venture between RTÉ and the GAA on the basis that consumers in Ireland would be “entirely unaffected” by the streaming platform, which was originally designed only to show games to people living abroad.
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> Today, every senior championship match being broadcast will only be shown on GAAGO.
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> Earlier this week, the GAA also took issue with journalists asking questions that it felt were better directed at GAAGO, “which has its own management structure”. But when asked who was the best person to answer questions about GAAGO, journalists were directed back to the GAA.
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> GAAGO originally had three directors from RTÉ, and three from the GAA. Former director general Dee Forbes resigned as a director of GAAGO last summer and has not been replaced.
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> All of this began in 2022, when Sky tried to negotiate a new rights deal with the GAA. One of the people who would have been responsible for selling the rights at the time was Noel Quinn, the GAA’s former head of marketing who is now head of GAAGO.
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> According to sources at Virgin Media and TG4, after the relationship with Sky ended, neither of the free-to-air channels were offered the chance to buy the rights to the same games.
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> This week, when the Irish Independent reported that TG4 would have liked the opportunity to try to buy the rights to championship games, the GAA issued a statement that suggested TG4 couldn’t afford them.
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> Last year, those behind GAAGO denied the matches being put behind a paywall were “cherry-picked” to drive profit. But this week, the rhetoric changed.
> In response to political criticism, GAA president Jarlath Burns this week said he would make no apologies for putting big games behind a paywall in order to drive profits for GAAGO.