Sky TV deal is tip of professional iceberg for GAA

An elite Gaelic footballer believes the GAA’s broadcasting deal with Sky is the latest step towards professionalism.

Aidan O’Shea, Mayo’s current All Star midfielder, is adamant that amateurism will end, just not in lifespan of his own career.

“It’s going to go there eventually,” he said yesterday. “We all know that.”

O'Shea believes it isn't viable for many football counties – currently including New York and London but not Kilkenny – to continually produce competitive teams, especially with funding and sponsorship deals increasingly dwarfed by Dublin.

Franchises
"It might be 20, 30, 40 years away but that's the way it has to go. The way our country is set up, the way our population is, you are not going to have 32 teams.

“You will probably have franchises, you are probably going to have to split the championship into a different structure.”

Regarding the development of franchise teams, he noted the amalgamation of several Carlow hurling clubs leading to Mount Leinster Rangers reaching this year’s All-Ireland club final.

“That’s the way it’s going to go and, yeah, players will get paid eventually.”

The Government grant scheme of €3.5 million, initially negotiated by the Gaelic Players Association, has been reduced year on year to its current amount of €900,000.

That has seen intercounty player grants drop from €2,500 to €500 for members of the four county panels that make it to September.

“We are the only ones on All-Ireland final day who don’t get paid,” O’Shea continued. “We get €500 for getting Olympic style drug tests. That might do you a weekend away in Dublin and that’s about it.

"Obviously there are huge perks, don't get me wrong. With the Sky deal the top guys will get some great exposure from it, which is brilliant for them but the split overall won't be as beneficial as everyone thinks."

Raising standard
O'Shea added that the arrival of Sky into the Gaelic games market should see an immediate positive of raising the standard of analysis by paid RTÉ pundits.

“I think RTÉ are lazy, they probably got lazy as it’s been a monopoly for them really and now they are going to have to challenge themselves a bit more in their production and their analysis.

“People are getting more money for broadcasting on Sky or wherever. It’s just the balance is probably wrong in a way towards the players.”