According to GAAGO Media Ltd’s newly filed 2023 accounts, overall revenues more than doubled from €2.4 million to €5.23 million, driven by the platform’s deal to broadcast GAA championship games behind a paywall to domestic viewers.

The company’s income included €4.96 million from subscriptions, with sponsorship revenue tripling from €90,000 to €273,437.

Despite public and political criticism of high-profile GAA games being placed behind the GAAGO paywall, pre-tax profits rose 47%, from €595,750 to €874,047.

Over the past two years, GAAGO’s profitability enabled it to pay a €1.2 million dividend to its joint owners, RTÉ and the GAA.

The accounts, signed off this month by Peter McKenna, GAA Croke Park Stadium Director, and Declan McBennett, RTÉ’s Group Head of Sport, revealed that the company recorded a post-tax profit of €761,370 in 2023, after paying €112,677 in corporation tax.

Regarding the company’s financial stability, the directors indicated that forecasts through September 2025 suggest GAAGO will continue to operate profitably and generate significant cash flow. They are confident the company has sufficient funding to remain viable.

The directors also noted that GAAGO streams over 100 live and on-demand GAA games annually to both domestic and international audiences.

However, GAAGO faces a challenge in retaining domestic broadcasting rights for the 2025 season, following the GAA’s call in August for expressions of interest in broadcasting the All-Ireland senior football and hurling championships domestically.

GAAGO’s rights to broadcast games internationally are secure until the current agreement expires in 2027, according to the accounts.

The company’s costs surged by €2.54 million (140%), rising from €1.81 million to €4.36 million, primarily due to the domestic broadcast deal.

The profit figure includes non-cash depreciation costs of €78,172, and the accounts note the resignation of former RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes from GAAGO’s board on June 26, 2023.

In 2023, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin were among the critics of GAAGO. The Taoiseach stated that the GAA had “gotten it wrong” with the service, while the Tánaiste expressed “huge concerns” about its impact on promoting hurling.

GAA President Jarlath Burns defended GAAGO in a May interview on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Claire Byrne, noting that after a 2022 appearance before an Oireachtas committee, “there were no issues,” and the rationale for GAAGO’s existence, including RTÉ’s exclusive broadcast rights to 35 matches, was accepted.