A different view on the Stadium issue

[Beavis]

Originally posted by republic
. Soccer has attracted consistently higher ratings than GAA finals


I'm not sure if it's a fair comparison seeing as a further 80,000 watched each if the GAA finals that are not included in the viewing figures.Ireland away matches would do better becuase no more than 5,000 normally travel and the rest of the fans watch it on TV,but with Gaelic Games the majority of the counties fans willl attend their matches.

[IrelandUnited]

Originally posted by gspain
I haven't seen stats for last year but 2002 Ireland v spain game by far the most wtached sports event - also the biggest even t on network 2 (RTE1 gets consistently higher tam ratings than 2 or TV3 as it is the default channel).

2001 it was nearly all football with the Iran games and Portugal an dHolland - even Estonia beat the GAA finals.

Special olympics probably was number 1 last year but the Swiss game was the biggest event otherwise.

One year (91) the "broken glass spreaders" hired dimension Ad agency and they added to gether the viewing figures for the 2 All Ireland sand they beat the figures for the top Ireland game by 50,000 and then claimed that GAA was more popular. The same year more people watch England v turkey (in our qualifying group live on RTE on a wednesday afternoon) than the Hurling final.

Your assertion that the swiss game was the most popular event of 2003 is simply wrong. Once again I refer you to the Irish times.

Special olympic opening was not "probably" the most watched. it WAS the most watched which personally pleased me even if it was a community event rather than sport.

Use of '91 figures makes my point gspain. '88-'94 was the honeymoon. I remember being in 20,000 crowds at Lansdowne watching the early 80s team in friendlies and I was in a 22,000 crowd v Canada doing the same last month - probably with many of the same people. I am pleased in a way. Despite being a United fan and as such a despicable tan sympathiser I have been to countless Ireland games and the athmosphere over the past few years has been nothing like the old days. The Young wans who wouldn't know a kilbane from a banana are gone because there is no party this year and Rooney has to pay Brazil to come over in order to try to get a crowd for the czech game.

Maybe I'm a 40 year old grouch but the hangers on can go away with my blessing.

[IrelandUnited]

Originally posted by republic
Have a look at the 'official' figures released by RTE over the last number of years. Soccer has attracted consistently higher ratings than GAA finals or rugby internationals. I am afraid that I do not have the figures to hand but perhaps someone can dig them up? I will stand corrected on viewing figures in pubs if that actually is the case (?) but certainly not on the point regarding Sky. Add in the Sky figures with a subscription base of 300,000 homes and they make a noticeable difference. Sky also don't show live GAA (thankfully :D ) so the ratings have been skewed over the past year or more.

GSpain is correct in the points he is making regarding this issue.

It is an interesting enough discussion rep. In fairness to the GAA figures the Armagh finals in recent years will have had a huge UTV audience as will any final featuring an ulster team. Look I do not care one way or the other I just like asserted facts to relate to real facts. So many discussions we have in Ireland are antagonistic with people grabbing dubious figures out of thin air to prove agendas of their own and I bore and tire of that. I add rep that I am certainly not accusing you of that but you know the type of thing.

I mean I've only posted about 20 times if that and have offended no one but I have already been called a tan and a barstool fcuker. what's all that about? Is it a sliding scale of purety? the Gah heads call the EL heads tans and they then call the manu and Liverpool heads tans and they then call the rugby boys tans and then everyone feels better? It is Irish nonsense and I wish people would snap out of it.

[Beavis]

Originally posted by IrelandUnited

I the Gah heads call the EL heads tans and they then call the manu and Liverpool heads tans and they then call the rugby boys tans and then everyone feels better?


I must commend you here,very good point.
Some people at Dubs matches detest the 'Garrison Ball' supporters,who are in turn called bigots on these boards,
Even more soccer fans slag of the egg-chasers,who label both of the above scumbags.Funny old cycle.
In the end aren't we all just trying to enjoy sport?:)

[gspain]

Originally posted by IrelandUnited
Your assertion that the swiss game was the most popular event of 2003 is simply wrong. Once again I refer you to the Irish times.

Special olympic opening was not "probably" the most watched. it WAS the most watched which personally pleased me even if it was a community event rather than sport.

Use of '91 figures makes my point gspain. '88-'94 was the honeymoon. I remember being in 20,000 crowds at Lansdowne watching the early 80s team in friendlies and I was in a 22,000 crowd v Canada doing the same last month - probably with many of the same people. I am pleased in a way. Despite being a United fan and as such a despicable tan sympathiser I have been to countless Ireland games and the athmosphere over the past few years has been nothing like the old days. The Young wans who wouldn't know a kilbane from a banana are gone because there is no party this year and Rooney has to pay Brazil to come over in order to try to get a crowd for the czech game.

Maybe I'm a 40 year old grouch but the hangers on can go away with my blessing.

I haven't seen the Irish Times article so maybe somebody with a sub could post it. Now I believe there was such a report but I've since been informed that the Georgia game was the most watched football match. I suspect something is screwed up here.

A football match has topped the sports ratings every year back into the late 80's. Normally only beaten by the Rose of Tralee.

Spain 2002 - Iran 2001, Holland 2000, Turkey 99 need I go on.

Now there is another factor in that RTE1 is much more popular than Network2 simply becaus eit is the default channel for TAM ratings - first channel etc - I believe a number of GAA matches were moved to RTE1 last year. Were figures from Northern Ireland also included as 2 teams from Northern Ireland were in the gaelic final.

I can't find anything for last year but interesting reprot on what children watched in 2002

http://www.irtc.ie/FULL%20RESEARCH%20REPORT1.doc

I agree that 88-94 were the heyday for Irish football but not the end of it. However the atmosphere at home games was dreadful for much of that with far too many corporate tickets and most of us bemoaning the atmosphere of the 70's & early 80's.

Furthermore 23,000 for Canada on a Tuesday night in Novemver was a very good attendance. the Czechs got about 8,000 a few days earlier.

[patsh]

Originally posted by IrelandUnited
Is that an attempt to put me back in the dock Patsh?

A bit like the vast majority of your fellow fans but I'm sounding like a broken record.
No.
You made a statement about different types of fans, I'm simply pointing out another type of fan.

[Schumi]

Originally posted by gspain
I haven't seen the Irish Times article so maybe somebody with a sub could post it. Here it is!


Croke Park is biggest TV draw
Seán Moran reports

Gaelic Games: The All-Ireland football final was the most watched contest of RTÉ's sporting year in 2003. This is good news for the GAA, whose major events were competing with what was a busy year on the international front between the Republic of Ireland's Euro 04 qualifier matches, the rugby team's highest-profile season in over a decade and Glasgow Celtic's first European final for over 30 years.

In fact all of the top three sports events were Gaelic games matches, which were only topped by the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics.

Coming behind the Tyrone-Armagh final were the hurling equivalent between Kilkenny and Cork and, with a very strong showing, Kilkenny's semi-final against Tipperary.

In all there are four GAA championship matches in the top 10, four soccer games, one rugby match and the Special Olympics.

Niall Cogley, RTÉ Head of Television Sport, said the GAA audience had increased in 2003. "Our GAA ratings are up year on year, not dramatically but up."

Despite its subdued conclusion, the Republic of Ireland's Euro 04 qualifying campaign attracted good audiences, two of which feature in the top 10. Surprisingly the home match with Georgia was the most popular and ranks fifth.

There were also high ratings for club soccer action, with Celtic's UEFA Cup final against Porto last May standing at eighth, one ahead of the Rangers-Manchester United match in the Champions League, which returned to RTÉ at the end of last year.

Ireland's rugby World Cup matches were at a disadvantage in the rankings because of the time difference between here and Australia. The highest viewing figures for that tournament were Ireland-Australia (342,000), Ireland-France (313,000) and the Australia-England final (291,000).

Only one Six Nations match made it into the top 10. Ireland's Grand Slam decider with England drew a sizeable 504,000 to be sixth. The best figures for the Heineken Cup were from Munster's semi-final against the eventual champions, Toulouse, which was watched by 264,000. Pity they didn't give figures for all the top 10.

[republic]

Originally posted by Schumi
Here it is!

Pity they didn't give figures for all the top 10.


Sean Moran is the GAA correspondent for the Irish Times and as usual would want to put a positive spin on this.

As Sky also showed the Republic of Ireland matches, I would be extremely interested in what number of their 300,000 subscribers watched those matches on Sky. My guess is that a substantial number did and thus would materially affect the overall figures for 2003.

[IrelandUnited]

Originally posted by republic
Sean Moran is the GAA correspondent for the Irish Times and as usual would want to put a positive spin on this.

As Sky also showed the Republic of Ireland matches, I would be extremely interested in what number of their 300,000 subscribers watched those matches on Sky. My guess is that a substantial number did and thus would materially affect the overall figures for 2003.

Of course the substantial number of people from the northern counties who watched on BBC NI also have an effect and Ulster teams were in many big games.

No GAA games were transferred to RTE One so no comfort there Rep.

There are stats, stats and Lies as the man said. I do not intend to continue to be devil's advocate on this thread and I have no credibility as a defender of the GAA since the last time I was at a GAA game was 1984 but whatever agenda we may have the truth is that the combined RTE, BBC and live (80,000) figure means that the AI game was the years most watched live sporting event despite 30 counties being uninvolved emotionally. That is a superb achievement and I'm open minded enough to give them great credit.

[John83]

Originally posted by IrelandUnited
There are stats, stats and Lies as the man said.
I think you'll find that "Lies, damn lies and statistics," is closer to what Disraeli said.

[gspain]

So the Ireland v Georgia game attracted a bigger tv audience than the Swiss game?????

Even allowing for the time differences this is simply staggering.

[IrelandUnited]

I agree gspain. My only conclusion is that the wavering support had given up on the team after a series of poorish results v Russia twice and the Swiss at home. The whole Saipan/MacCarthy out/ poor run of form thing has left a certain indifference which was seen in the attendances at the friendlies. I think the "innocence" - not quite the right word but you know what I mean - is gone and there is now a greater reluctance to accept glorious or not so glorious failure.

I hope that things improve. Our reseeding into seed group 2 hasn't helped and we do really need to pull it together now since reseeding into group 3 - a real possibility if we do not finish ahead of Israel and the Swiss - would make things very difficult in the long term looking to tne next 10-12 years.

In reality there will be a three team mini group. Israel, Swiss and us and we MUST win that or we could be in for a very difficult decade with a set of fans many of the younger of which are much less willing to celebrate for the sake of it than maybe we were 15 years ago.

[gspain]

Originally posted by IrelandUnited
I agree gspain. My only conclusion is that the wavering support had given up on the team after a series of poorish results v Russia twice and the Swiss at home. The whole Saipan/MacCarthy out/ poor run of form thing has left a certain indifference which was seen in the attendances at the friendlies. I think the "innocence" - not quite the right word but you know what I mean - is gone and there is now a greater reluctance to accept glorious or not so glorious failure.

I hope that things improve. Our reseeding into seed group 2 hasn't helped and we do really need to pull it together now since reseeding into group 3 - a real possibility if we do not finish ahead of Israel and the Swiss - would make things very difficult in the long term looking to tne next 10-12 years.

In reality there will be a three team mini group. Israel, Swiss and us and we MUST win that or we could be in for a very difficult decade with a set of fans many of the younger of which are much less willing to celebrate for the sake of it than maybe we were 15 years ago.

I think the figures are more indicative of the stats rather than the lack of interest. there was huge hype around the Swiss game. Furthermore this was not on Sky while the Georgia game was.

All I can think of is that people gave up at 2-0 and switched over to Turkey v England and the sampling was done o nthe 2nd half.