Crime gangs blamed over drop in numbers streaming Tyrone GAA TV

ORGANISED criminal gangs are being blamed for a sharp reduction in the number of people subscribing to Tyrone GAA’s online championship coverage.

Every match in the county’s Senior, Intermediate and Junior championships was shown online. The service has been in operation for a number of years now and has proved to be immensely popular among fans.

But the figures for 2023 have shown what is being described as a ‘significant reduction’ from the 2022 championships.

Last year, there were 15,500 people paying around £10 to watch a match. However, that figure fell to 7,000 customers in 2023, according to the report of the county’s information technology committee, which is chaired by Gerard Bradley.

“The reduction in subscriptions has been clearly identified as being almost entirely due to the activities of organised criminal gangs with local providers who use modified Firesticks and Apps to pirate livestreams,” Mr Bradley said.

“While Tyrone has been particularly targeted by this criminal activity, all other units including the GAA at central level and other sports are also victims.”

Mr Bradley said a technical issue also meant that the Intermediate final between Pomeroy and Gortin was not delivered during the first half. The match was subsequently streamed free of charge on social media and saw Pomeroy win.

Mr Bradley said a special link had been used for the following day’s Senior Final which saw Trillick defeat Errigal Ciaran to ensure that the match was streamed on social media.

He praised the work of the commentators and analysts on the livestream.