Future looks bright for GAA livestreaming

International windows can be tricky for football fans, with a dearth of live football on the television when compared to a 'normal' week. Without the club game ticking over, one has to be a tad more creative in finding your live football fix.

In our living room last week, Virgin Media stepped up to the mark by carrying coverage of Scotland's meeting with Belarus in World Cup qualifying. The Scots were made to sweat for their 2-nil win, but the fixture was notable for two things: one being the rash nature of a few of the Belarussian challenges and, two, the fact that the game took place in an empty stadium in the Hungarian town of Zalaegerszeg, due to a ban on Belarus being able to play games in their home country and a ban on supporters attending matches even in neutral venues.

That eerie feeling of watching a behind-closed-doors game carries you back, immediately, to the awful days of the pandemic when it became the norm.

The pandemic, though, was revolutionary in many ways when it comes to sports broadcasting. Innovation was required to make sure events still took place and the broadcasting of them to homes around the world was essential to maintain interest, give people something to talk about and retain some sense of normality. As club championship season is in full swing now, we are reaping the full rewards of it from a GAA point of view.

The split season arrived after Covid, but so too did the real advent of streaming club matches to wider audiences. Local newspapers have always been a vital source of publicity for club games, but live streaming is now another avenue to showcase the product. Yes, streaming had arrived before the pandemic but it has exploded since, with clubs and counties fully engaged now in broadcasting their matches to the masses.

While there was some trepidation that streaming of club fixtures would hurt gate receipts, I would argue that, in many cases, the contrary is actually the case. Streaming your club games does two things: it generates an additional source of revenue and it gives you a golden opportunity to showcase your product on social media by using the material to send out promotional clips during the week in between matches. Instead of making crowds at matches smaller, I would argue it actually helps increase interest in games and thus bring bigger crowds to local venues.

There are some obvious examples to underline these points.

Ocean FM reported earlier this year that Streamsport, which carries coverage for a number of counties including Mayo, paid a reported €250,000 to stream Donegal's club fixtures for the next three years. In Cork, their cash-strapped county board sold the rights to their club scene to Clubber for a reported €500,000 over three years. That's not small money and its cash county boards could not have even dreamed of ten years ago.

Streaming the games is one thing – but then counties can use that content to promote their games to a wider, younger audience. That is something that is not insignificant in an era when social media plays such a prominent role in the lives of the younger population in particular. And, when they're being bombarded with advertisements and content from other sports, it's no harm for the GAA to be in there as well – and what better way to connect with impressionable teens than showing them the prowess of their local stars.

Sligo, for example, have really embraced the idea of using social media to showcase their product this summer with a new Tik Tok account. A goal scored by George Barlow for Shamrock Gaels in their league final defeat of Tourlestrane collected forty thousand views.

Similarly, Mayo have been very effective in their use of highlights packages from club championship games held on various weekends. This development is a very welcome addition and helps those cast a quick eye on some of the great matches that have taken place in the county over recent weeks, with the North Mayo cracker between Crossmolina and Ballina a particular highlight.

Clearly, there is a future for streaming of local GAA matches. Clubber, which was founded by Tipperary native Jimmy Doyle, has become a real hub for local GAA activity with dozens of matches, from dozens of counties, streamed each weekend. Recent investment from Mediahuis, owners of the Irish Independent, reflects the growing stature of live streaming in the modern media market.

Clubber have benefitted, in particular, from holding rights to show the Kerry club championships. Such is the star power of the Clifford brothers, Paudie and David, that their outings with Fossa in the junior and intermediate championships in recent years have become appointment viewing for many GAA fans around the country with little or no connection to the club.

Indeed, on a wider level, it's an interesting point for the GAA to ponder when it comes to the inter-county scene. Might we get to a point where all National League matches, for example, are livestreamed from all divisions? One has to imagine that, if a given platform deems there to be enough of a demand for a junior club match to be streamed from a certain county, a National League Division Four fixture would surely meet the same threshold.

TG4 have always embraced the club game and RTÉ, in recent years, have also taken the opportunity to broadcast club matches once the provincial championships come into play. Each and every weekend, we are able to follow different storylines from around the country.

My own bias aside, the work of all broadcasting companies helping shine a light on the club game should be applauded. And, if nothing else, it helps show those critical of the split season that the GAA does actually remain active – possibly even more active – when the inter-county season comes to a close.