Listen to the full interview above via the podcast 

The reaction to the Sky TV deal with GAA has been passionate and varied but one of the most interesting contributions has come from UCD professor of history and noted sports historian Dr Paul Rouse who penned an article showing the impact Pay TV had on the Heineken Cup.

Tonight he joined us on Off The Ball to tell us what impact the Sky deal could have on the GAA and its audience.

"When you put a sport onto Pay TV that had been previously on free-to-air TV, the audience drops and drops significantly. It drops up to one-fifth of what it was previously," said Rouse who explained that certain social groups, age categories and regions are disproportionately affected by moves from free-to-air to Pay TV.

While admitting that Pay TV does not signal the death knell of a sport and that other factors can affect viewership figures, Rouse explained that the figures and statistics clearly show that the Heineken Cup, for example, has suffered a drop in audience numbers.

"The figures show that Heineken Cup games shown on Sky suffered an immense drop in audience viewership," he said.

Rouse said that he liked certain parts of the GAA deal, but signaled his opposition to the Sky aspect because of his belief in free-to-air television for a community-based organisation like the GAA.

"You can say it's only 14 matches but I say that's 14 matches too many," said Rouse. 

He also touched on the issue of social inclusion and how the deal with Sky could affect that issue and questioned the ultimate viability of exporting GAA to the rest of the world. 

Listen to the full interview above via the podcast.