GAAGO sees profits cut in half amid a drop in subscription income
GAAGO is a joint venture owned 50:50 between RTÉ and GAA.
Profits at GAAGO, the match-streaming joint venture between RTÉ and the GAA, was cut nearly in half during 2022 as subscription revenue dropped and operating costs increased.
According to GAAGO Media Limited’s financial statement for 2022, subscription revenue dropped to €2.3m from €2.8m in 2021 while operating costs increased to €1.43m from €1.32m.
Overall, the company generated a profit for the financial year of €518,218—a 49.5% drop from the €1m in profit it posted in 2021.
As of the end of the year, GAAGO’s retained earnings totalled €1.78m. No dividends to shareholders were proposed during 2022. There were six people on average per month working for the service.
In 2021, more games were shown on the platform due to pandemic restrictions which drove a lot of traffic to the site. As a result, a drop in people coming to the service was expected in 2022.
The entity is owned 50:50 between the GAA and RTÉ. Former director general of RTÉ, Dee Forbes, had been listed as a director of the company until her resignation in June this year.
The company claims over 100 live and on-demand games a year as well as a library of GAA documentaries and an archive of classic games. An annual pass for GAAGO cost €79.
GAAGO launched nine years ago as a subscription-based service. The service was expanded after Sky Sports opted not to continue broadcasting GAA games last year.
Earlier this year, the GAA came under pressure to stop using their streaming service for top games with Tánaiste Micheál Martin weighing in to say they should be free to air.
During the summer, two blockbuster encounters in the Munster senior hurling championship, Cork versus Tipperary as well as Clare versus Limerick, were only available on GAAGO.
Earlier this year, the competition authority launched a probe that overall did not give approval for the venture to operate which RTÉ dismissed saying it did not need permission.
In 2017, the Consumer and Competition Protection Commission (CCPC) had originally approved GAAGO as an overseas platform to charge subscriptions for games.
However, the CCPC said that it became apparent that the activities of the joint venture may have been extended beyond those notified to and initially cleared by the CCPC.
