The Economics of Sport
  • Sports Economics
  • About
  • Workshop
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • A Primer on Gaelic Games
  • Upcoming Events
  • Media
  • Education
  • Resources & Links
  • Data

Virus-Induced Changes to GAA Broadcasting

24/5/2021

 
By John Considine
Picture
Italy won last Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest.  The contest is the music equivalent of the recently proposed European Super League.  It was established by a cartel of European public sector broadcasters.  It reflected the difference in the broadcasting landscape either side of the Atlantic.  That landscape had, and continues to have, implications for the broadcasting of sport.  A prime example is the EU Television Without Frontier directive where some sporting events have to be shown on free-to-air TV with a large market penetration.

There are other differences between the way sport is broadcast in the US and in Europe.  Some are driven by the sporting landscape.  American football, baseball, and basketball have many breaks in the activity that make them suitable for commercial TV where adverts can be sold.  By contrast, a game of soccer has one scheduled break in the middle of two 45-minute periods of activity.  In relative terms, the game is more suitable to subscription TV.

When soccer games returned after the initial lockdown, there was a water-break.  The change did not last long and the water break is now gone.  The water-break was an opportunity for the game to go to a four-quarter format.  That would have been an opportunity for broadcasters to sell advertising.  It could also make the game fairer by switching ends at the end of each quarter as in American football.

The water-break remains in GAA games.  I presume that in any return to "normality" the water-break will disappear from the game.  It is something that should be considered carefully.  My proposal would be for four quarters of twenty minutes each (with team swapping ends at each quarter).  It is 50 years since the GAA had games that had to last 80 minutes.  However, current games last nearly 80 minutes and there is no comparison in the athletes of today and those of the early 1970s.  A planned break after every twenty minutes would probably be financial rewarding.  It might also help mitigate against some of the weather induced "games of two halves".

Any return to "normality" will probably also change what is offered on the GAA broadcasting landscape.  Or maybe not.  There has been an evolution in the way GAA games are broadcast.  The pandemic has increased the speed of this evolution.  But some recently introduced changes might be reversed.  At the highest level of the game (inter-county), someone living in Ireland can purchase a subscription to a set of GAA games and/or they can purchase particular games on a pay-per-view basis.  When spectators are allowed return to venues to watch games, there might be an inclination to curtail the availability of what can be purchased.  Again, I would suggest that some of the changes are retained.  Those decision makers, with access to the data on viewership, should evaluate the possibilities.

I have talked to some of those involved below broadcasting/streaming "lower" level games.  Those conversations, and the associated viewing figures, suggest that there is an audience for broadcasting/streaming services beyond those who would go to the venues.  Again, there is food for thought for those deciding how supporters will be allowed see their teams when crowds return to venues.  I will deal with this lower end of GAA broadcasting in a future post. 


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    About

    This website was founded in July 2013.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    American Football
    Athletics
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Behavioural Economics
    Boxing
    Broadcasting
    Competitive Balance
    Cricket
    Cycling
    Darts
    David Butler
    Declan Jordan
    Drugs
    Ed Valentine
    Epl
    Esports
    Expenditure
    F1
    Fifa World Cup
    Finances
    Funding
    Gaa
    Gaelic Games
    Gambling
    Game Theory
    Gary Burns
    Geography
    Golf
    Greyhound Racing
    Guest Posts
    Horse Racing
    Impact Studies
    John Considine
    John Eakins
    League Of Ireland
    Location
    Media
    Mls
    Mma
    Olympics
    Participation
    Paul O'Sullivan
    Premier League
    Regulation
    Research
    Robbie Butler
    Rugby
    Simpsonomics
    Snooker
    Soccer
    Spatial Analysis
    Sporting Bodies
    Stephen Brosnan
    Swimming
    Taxation
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tennis
    Transfers
    Uefa
    Ufc
    World Cup
    Wwe

Related

The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities. 

Contact

To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.