For Sky, the ancient Irish sport of hurling "is a new front in its global sports broadcasting," according to Vincent Boland of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Hurling, for "the uninitiated," is played over 70 minutes with sticks and a small ball by two teams of 15 men. Until Sky "signed a three-year deal earlier this year with the Gaelic Athletic Association," the organizing body for the sports of hurling and Gaelic football, "it has not been available abroad except in pubs."
But through the combination of an ever-growing Irish diaspora and a plethora of digital platforms on which to deliver new products, the GAA "is making its games available to a global audience."
The GAA is thought to earn €10M ($13.6M) a year from broadcast rights, and the three-year contract with the British broadcaster is understood to be worth about €2M ($2.7M). That is "marginal" for Sky "but a significant step for the GAA." Sky Ireland Managing Dir JD Buckley said that the GAA deal "adds to its package of Irish sports offerings, which include Irish soccer and rugby." That "is central to its Irish expansion strategy" (FT, 6/15).
