GAA is gouging fans - Alan Dillon

FORMER Mayo All-Star Alan Dillon has accused the GAA of financially exploiting Mayo fans by not showing Mayo’s championship opener with Kerry live on RTÉ.

The Fine Gael TD slammed the decision to put Saturday’s game exclusively on the GAAGO streaming service, claiming that RTÉ and the GAA are creating ‘invisible barriers for older people’.

Supporters who cannot travel to the highly anticipated game must pay a €12 fee – or have paid a €79 yearly subscription – to see it on GAAGO, which requires an internet connection.

Speaking to The Mayo News, Deputy Dillon claimed the decision to put the game behind a paywall was about increasing GAAGO’s profits.

He referred to the recent Cork v Tipperary Munster Hurling Championship game, which caused a furore when it was shown on the GAAGO platform exclusively.

“If RTÉ were not 50 percent stakeholders in the GAAGO, the Kerry-Mayo game would certainly be on free-to-air this weekend,” Deputy Dillon said.

“I think what we have seen in recent weeks is that a lot of the decision making is less about fairness of selection but more about increasing subscribers and maximising revenue for what is a private company where the Director General of RTÉ and Group Head of Sport both sit.

“I’m not against the GAA platform, I’m against the scheduling […] of key championship games and placing them behind a paywall. It certainly goes against the ethos of the GAA and what the GAA stands for, a community-led organisation that leaves no one behind.”

He added that GAAGO creates ‘invisible barriers for older people in terms of these people accessing an online internet streaming app compared to what should be on domestic television’.

When asked about the increased number of games in a condensed championship calendar, Deputy Dillon said that the new split-season format was creating ‘a lot of difficulty’ for broadcasters.

A total of 180 GAA games will be shown free on RTÉ, BBC and TG4 this year.

GAAGO will show a total of 38 championship games this summer, the majority of which will take place on Saturdays.

Broadband barrier

DEPUTY Dillon also said the lack of broadband connectivity in rural Ireland means that now is ‘not the right time’ to move so many games to an online streaming platform.

The first-time TD was reacting to comments by Mayo senior football manager Kevin McStay, who said poor broadband coverage was creating a barrier for Mayo people looking to use GAAGO.

“The principle of this has to be the discussion around broadband,” Mr McStay told reporters at a press conference on Friday.

“GAAGO has taken a giant leap this year. Up to now, it was a seen as a backwater streaming service, nice for your brother over in Boston, that sort of thing. This year it’s had to make a big jump, but the big thing missing in the whole debate is that the whole thing is predicated on broadband.

“If you don’t have broadband you’re neither here nor there,” he said.

“Paddy at the butt of Nephin, does he have broadband? I don’t think he does. The boys out in Blacksod, do they have broadband? I’m not sure that they have. The lads in Achill, do they have broadband?

“I would think that’s the big fault line before you go talking about anything else. How can a service be offered when the technology that underpins it isn’t up to standard?”

The Mayo boss also said he experienced issues with the GAAGO service recently while trying to watch Dublin v Kildare game in a Dublin hotel.

“I know there were probably a hundred rooms in the hotel using the broadband but the picture was freezing and the next thing you’d click and a point or goal had been scored,” he recalled.

Deputy Dillon said that progress was being made on the National Broadband Plan.

“Thankfully we’re increasing connectivity throughout rural and regional areas, but we’re not there yet,” said the two-time All-Star.

“I think it’s a bit short-sighted that the GAA think that there is connectivity in a lot of these rural areas.”