Organised crime gangs are behind a pirating operation that has greatly reduced revenue from Tyrone GAA’s live streaming service.
Subscriptions from viewers of live club championship games had dropped dramatically this year due to the interception of streams through the illegal use of firesticks and apps.
Tyrone GAA’s information and technology officer Gerard Bradley claims the county has been particularly targeted by those individuals and organisations behind the offences.
“The reduction in subscriptions has been clearly identified as being almost entirely due to the activities of organised criminal gangs, with local providers who use modified firesticks and apps to pirate live streams,” Bradley will tell Tuesday night’s county convention.
Kayleigh Cronin: ‘I had tears in my eyes, I was like, ‘I can’t do this no more’’
Tommy Fitzgerald to succeed Darren Gleeson as Laois senior hurling manager
Derry’s Rogers believes Rory Gallagher will return to intercounty management
Walter Walsh looks to life after intercounty hurling retirement as injuries start to take toll
“The live stream of this year’s championship attracted 15,500 subscriptions from almost 7,000 customers. These figures show a significant reduction on the 2022 figures.
“While Tyrone has been particularly targeted by this criminal activity, all other units, including the GAA at central level and other sports, are also victims.
“The attendance at matches continued to exceed the number of live stream tickets sold.”
Tyrone TV led the way once again during 2023 as the only county to live stream every single club championship match. A total of 50 games were covered at senior, intermediate and junior level.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our In The News podcast is now published daily - Find the latest episode here
