Unhappiness with GAA Go has reared its head again. It is becoming an annual event in Ireland where politicians and others complain that some senior hurling and football matches are not screened on free-to-air television but instead appear on a paywalled streaming service called GAA Go.
This time last year I wrote about the cost of watching the summer schedule given the movement of some games to subscription service GAA. The post can be found here.
The "Season Pass" for 2024 again costs €79. As each individual game costs €12, and there are 38 for sale, the sensible approach is to buy the €79 pass, with an average price of just over €2 per game. I suspect people are instead waiting to see what games will be shown, closer to the match day, and then baulk at the €12 charge.
Here is an idea that worked for me. I bought the League of Ireland season ticket (LOITV) for €120 last December and gave it as a Christmas present to a fan. It may not be easy to think of these gifts in the depths of winter; the League of Ireland is dormant until February and the GAA does not resurface seriously until April. However, it is now almost mid-summer, and the gift is in use at least every 14 days.
My Christmas present of 2023 will be used all the way through the year up to late October. The deadweight loss associated with presents has been avoided on this occasion. GAA Go could do the same thing, if people can access the product in late 2024 for the following season, and can imagine summer time in the darkness of Ireland's long winter.