AN URGENT APPEAL TO IRISH FOOTBALL FANS
Please note that this is not about the domestic coverage deal with TV3 (apart from Sky having the FAI Cup semis and final). If you don't agree with this, I respect your opinion. I'm not trying to convince you. I'm addressing this to those who are angry at the deal.
Also, if you agree with this, please do something. And fast. In particular, support the postcard campaign announced by the Irish Football Supporters Association (details at the end of this message) and the boycott of FAI goods announced by the Irish Consumers Association.
In my opinion, this time the FAI has gone too far. At the very same meeting that it established an independent investigation into its own incompetence in Japan and Korea, it has insulted Irish soccer fans everywhere, shown itself clueless as to the true meaning of football, and ignored both its own development strategy and the basis on which it is being massively funded by the Irish government.
THE REALITY OF THE SKY DEAL
All for a hyped-up deal that, on the FAI’s own projected accounts, will have no major impact on the finances of Irish football. In the next three years, the Irish Government will give the FAI ten times as much as Sky will: 57m euro compared to 5.6m euro. In this time, the Sky deal will add less than 5% to the FAI’s projected income. Assuming RTE or TV3 would have paid even half the amount Sky will, total three-year income will only rise from about 71m euro to about 74m.
It’s not even a good deal financially. Sky is paying the English Nationwide League more twice as much per live game. For non-premiership English football and the Worthington Cup, Sky is paying 500,000 euro per live game. The FAI will get less than 210,000 per game (assuming 3 full and 3 U-21 home internationals, and the FAI Cup semis and final each year) for exclusive rights to world’s 14th best national team.
For that, Irish fans must subscribe to Sky or bring their children to a pub when Ireland play at home. And what clown came up with the sweetener of showing non-Sky-subscribers our matches “as-live” an hour after they end? Can they really know that little about football?
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Six months ago the FAI launched a major Government-funded development strategy “One Game, One Association”. Its stated principal aim was to maximise the number of people involved in Irish football. It made clear that “participation should be understood to have a broad definition, which includes supporters”.
To do this, the FAI committed in writing to “make key policy decisions through (its formal structures) and through consultation with participants”; to provide “services to participants which are accessible in terms of their location, price and time of availibility”; and to “ensure that Irish football is enjoyable, ethical and inclusive.” D’oh!
In a strategy negotiated with and largely funded by the Government, the FAI was “fully committed to working in partnership with the wider community” and “gaining the support and cooperation of local communities”. Clearly it is doing no such thing. It is making major unilateral decisions about the very essence of our game, acting as if it was an independently wealthy gentleman’s club.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Enough is enough. We the fans own Irish football. The FAI is ultimately our organisation, funded by us both as supporters and taxpayers. If it remains in denial about its duty to us, then our Government should stop giving it our money.
Don’t just sit there. Do something. Support the Irish Football Supporters Association postcard campaign by sending a postcard with the words NO SALE to Alan Hunter at 47 Capel Street in Dublin. Support the Consumer Association’s boycott of FAI goods.
And think of other actions. If enough people want to do something, we should all do it together. Feel free to email me if you want to. Or else organise something yourself. Please also circulate this to anyone that can influence anyone involved in the FAI. Contact your local Eircom League club, your TDs, the Government, anyone who sponsors the FAI or anything related to it.
We can win this if we’re intelligent and committed. Always remember that we’re dealing with people who, at the very same meeting that they decided on this deal, also set up an independent investigation into their own incompetency.
Michael Nugent
Who is that we're sending it to?Don’t just sit there. Do something. Support the Irish Football Supporters Association postcard campaign by sending a postcard with the words NO SALE to Alan Hunter at 47 Capel Street in Dublin. Support the Consumer Association’s boycott of FAI goods.
I'm in favour of a protest against the FAI and would certaintly attend any sort of rally or protest outside Dáil Éireann or FAI HQ.
Do you mind if I copy and paste your post to another messageboard?
Hi Mattigol,
He's the secretary of the Irish Football Supporters Association.
I don't actually know him, but he's the guy who has been on the news yesterday and today responding to the deal on behalf of Irish fans. Their plan is to bring the postcards to the FAI when they've got enough of them.
I'm going to try to contact him over the weekend and see if they're organising a demo or picket. If not, I'll probably organise something myself along with anyone who is interested.
And sure, feel free to circulate the original post to wherever you feel it would help. I've already sent it to the eircomleague.net messageboard and the soc.culture.irish newsgroup.
Cheers,
Michael Nugent
Pardon my ignorance here, I'm just playing devil's advocate: How does the FAI deal differ from deals signed with Sky in the UK? Surely they're in the the exact same position? Also, out of curiosity, are you representing the ISA here Michael?
adam
Jesus!, arent ye getting a little worked up over the whole thing, Skys not that expensive and IMO they will offer much better coverage of the games than RTE ever could.
Why shouldnt the FAI take the best deal they can get?
RTE offered 1 million, Sky/TV3 offered 10 times that, money talks in football and it is ludacris to suggest that the FAI should have settled for an offer that is well below the market value.
I think it's wrong to have to pay a foreign TV station to watch my national team. Imagine if the English FA gave an American channel like ESPN exclusive rights to show their games. It wouldn't happen, only in IrelandPlus €100 sign up and €40 a month is expensive and no doubt they're coverage will be as patronising and crap as ITV's and BBC's coverage during the World Cup.
A lot of people have Sky anyway, so it wont make a lot of difference to them. In fairness, Sky have given very good coverage to the Irish team in the past few years.
I can see the argument from both sides.
Hi Vetinari,
No, I'm not representing anybody. I'll respond to your other question a little later.
Colm,
It’s not RTE that I am concerned about. It’s the thousands of Irish fans who depend on RTE that are being betrayed. Lansdowne only holds a fraction of the Irish people who want to see an Ireland home game. If you don’t have a ticket, you now have three choices: subscribe to a multinational corporation whose web site calls our country Eire, or go to a pub bringing your children if you have them, or wait for an hour until after the match ends to see it. We deserve better than that.
I din’t know what the final RTE offer would have been, but lets take the figures you’re using, which has been quoted as RTE's annual first offer, not the total. So RTE were offering 1m euro a year, and Sky 1.9m. The difference is, give or take, 1m euro a year.
Now put that in the context of the FAI’s projected income for this coming year. A minumum of 19m euro from the Irish Government (up from 7.5m last year). Another 4m from international matches (these are the FAI’s own figures). That’s 23m euro without tv rights. I don’t know how much merchandise sales will add.
So the difference between going for RTE and Sky is this:
Option one: Give it to RTE. Have 24m euro income this year, plus merchandise sales, over twice the income as last year not counting the World Cup finals, plus all of our fans are able to see the games in comfort and more people feel good about Irish football.
Option two: Give it to Sky. Have 25m euro income this year, plus lower merchandise sales, plus thousands of fans who are infuriated more than anything I’ve experienced before, plus the Consumers Association calling for a public boycott of FAI goods and calling for the IRFU to stop leasing them Lansdowne. That’s a very expensive cost for adding about 4% to your income.
So even in financial terms, it doesn't make sense. And in reality, it’s only peripherally to do with RTE. Like the FAI, they’re largely funded by our money as taxpayers. So we’re paying both of them to screw around with our game. Unless we stand up to them.
Michael Nugent
Hi Vetinari,
You asked why this Sky deal is different to other Sky deals.
Well, there are a number of reasons, but this is the main one.
A 1997 European Directive known as “Television without Frontiers” allows EU citizens to view sporting events of national importance without having to pay for it. To enforce this, each Government draws up a list of designated events.
For example, Germany has listed all home and away matches of the German national team; the semi-finals and final of the German FA Cup; any European club final involving a German club; and the opening match, semi-finals and finals of every European Championship and World Cup.
In 1999 this became Irish law with the Broadcasting (Major Events Television Coverage) Act. However, no events have yet been designated here. But they should have been. It was specifically designed for events like this.
Michael Nugent
Whatever about the rights and wrongs of the deal, the contract has been signed as far as I know so what good is protesting about it going to do? Since a contract is legally binding i don't see how there's any going back on it now. All this talk of boycotting matches is stupid - what good will any of that do for football in this country?
Why people getting so worked up about. I don't have Sky but can see it in the pub like everyone else anyway.
Sky offered 7.5 million, RTE offered less than the 2m they paid for the last 4 years.
When the story broke on friday RTE kept saying it was Pay per View i.e. deliberate misinformation.
What is the definition of an Irish supporter? Someone who watches the match on TV? How do they contribute to irish football? I bet all the people watching the WC in my office think they irish supporters yet i be surprised if even half have any interest in watching euro 2004 qualifiers.....
FAI needs money to put into grassroots football & SKy were willing to pay them over 3 times RTEs offer.
Thats the bottom line really. It seems to me that a lot of people care more about having to pay a few quid to get Sky than the development of Irish football at grassroots level, RTE's offer was an insult to Irish football and anyone who REALLY cares about Irish football must acknoledge this.Originally posted by pete
FAI needs money to put into grassroots football & SKy were willing to pay them over 3 times RTEs offer.
Originally posted by COLM
Thats the bottom line really. It seems to me that a lot of people care more about having to pay a few quid to get Sky than the development of Irish football at grassroots level, RTE's offer was an insult to Irish football and anyone who REALLY cares about Irish football must acknoledge this.
Ah sure isn't watching a few irish matches on the sofa with their 'pool/unted jersey the height of a lot of so called "irish supporters".
The only people i've heard against the extra money for irish football have been the Official Supporters club & people rining into RTE radio.
Apparentley, RTE had no interest in showing the eircom league as part of the deal. Maybe, all these so called supporters should think about that before they start going off on their rants!
from rte.ie
Nice emotive use of the term pay-per-view by the as always unbiased RTE news department.RTÉ have lost out on the right to screen live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's home international matches for the next four years after the FAI sold the broadcasting rights to Sky Sports. The deal with Rupert Murdoch's company means that Irish fans will now only see World Cup heroes like Damien Duff and Robbie Keane on a pay-per-view basis as Sky Sports channels are only available on subscription.
Do we not subscibe to RTE when we pay a tv licence? Could this not also be called pay-per-view?
I've noticed that no one moaning about this on the radio or anywhere else has mentioned the EL deal. RTE have clearly shown that they don't give a $hit about the league.
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
Pay- per- view
RTE seem to be trying to con people into thinking that you will have to pay a fee for each match on top of your subscription.
All these whingers have three options-
1) Subscribe to Sky and see the games live in your own home.
2) Go to the pub and watch the games on the big screen.
3) Watch the game an hour late on TV3.
Exactely. I was willing to give RTE the benefit of the doubt last week cos story just breaking but they still dishonestly using terms such as pay per view.Originally posted by COLM
RTE seem to be trying to con people into thinking that you will have to pay a fee for each match on top of your subscription.
Most of the whingers are the bar stoolers so surely makes feck all differenc eot them anyway.
From an eL point of view Tv3 as a commercial station giving the eL a better deal than RTE a public service broadcaster gave when had full live rights for internationals.
Also, when have RTE shown an u-21 or other underage international?
You do have to pay to view games. I do not have Sky. I would have to pay a sign-on fee, a monthly fee, and aren't the sports channels extra on top of that? Surely thats paying-quite-a-lot-per-view?
In the next 2 years the only major games be Russia & Switzerland anyway.
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