Dublin's Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).Ireland's Content Pool
Former GAA president Seán Kelly has welcomed reports that the GAA is looking to buy RTÉ out of its share of the streaming service GAAGO.
The controversial paywalled website shows several high-profile GAA inter-county championship games each year.
RTÉ has a 50% stake in the streaming service, with the GAA owning the other half, but Croke Park may attempt to take full control of it so as to effectively create its own broadcasting platform.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland yesterday, RTÉ GAA correspondent Marty Morrissey said the decision of the GAA to retain the rights to those packages was significant.
He said: “I’m hearing rumours around Croke Park that they may well change the branding and change the name from GAAGO to something like GAATV.
"They are following in the footsteps of the NFL and NBA; the GAA are exploring every avenue possible to spread their games and benefit financially,” he added.
Former GAA president Mr. Kelly, now a long-time Fine Gael MEP, welcomed the proposed move.
He said last night: “I could never fathom why they had a 50% stake in it.
"For a body like RTÉ getting profits off of it never sat well with me and if they can buy it out and set up their own TV, then excellent.”
Mr. Kelly said that once the games were shared on a “fair basis” he would be satisfied.
He said it was “understandable” that the GAA wanted to make a profit, but that it shouldn’t be “profit for profit’s sake."
*This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.