RTÉ said GAA GO had been operating without clearance from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has revealed that it has begun an enquiry into the Gaelic Games streaming platform GAA GO.
The investigation has been launched to ascertain whether or not the service complies with Irish competition law.
Owned jointly by both the GAA and RTE, the platform drew controversy earlier this season following the decision to place a number of high-profile fixtures behind a pay-wall.
Games such as Kerry’s All-Ireland Football Quarter Final victory over Tyrone were selected for the service, rather than be made available on free-to-air television.
According to RTE, the CCPC announced that their enquiry began back in May, prior to the allegations of financial transgressions which have consumed the State broadcaster in recent weeks.
Their enquiry regards the expansion of the GAA GO service, which had previously just been utilised as a broadcasting service for people living overseas.
Controversy surrounding GAA GO:
This business model had been cleared by the CCPC in the past, however numerous changes occurred following GAA GO’s stepping in to breach the coverage gap left by Sky Sports’ departure from GAA.
Furthermore, the platform began broadcasting games to domestic audiences, which had not yet been cleared by the CCPC.
This week at the Oireachtas Media Committee, RTE head of sport Declan McBennett revealed that the organisation had been operating without the proper clearance from the CCPC.
This has promoted the committee to announce that they “opened an enquiry” into GAA GO back in May, and are “pro-actively engaged with the GAA and RTE on this matter”.
The CCPC added that mergers over a certain financial threshold must be referred to the committee so it can establish whether or not the transaction could lessen competition within the given markets.
Responding to the news of the enquiry, the GAA stated that it was satisfied that it was operating within the realms of the law.
Although a spokesperson did add that “should anything contrary to that sentiment be brought to GAA GO’s attention, it will give immediate due consideration to the matter”.
The spokesperson concluded by confirming that the CCPC has not made any requests to the platform for changes to be made to how it currently operates.
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