Scottish football faces TV blackout as foreign firms set to pull plug

[Lencarl]

Coverage of the upcoming season may not be broadcast overseas as the company holding the foreign rights to Scotland's top flight faces financial collapse.PFL media partners MP & Silva – who snapped up the foreign rights for Scotland’s top flight in a deal which lasts until 2023 – are battling to stay out of the hands of administrators after defaulting on payments to a number of top European bodies, including England’s Premier League.

 

This is the Daily Record's take on it …"Broadcast giants from around the world may be forced to pull the plug on plans to beam Steven Gerrard’s first league match as Rangers manager at Aberdeen on Sunday into the homes of tens of millions of viewers."

 

£2million per year to broadcast SPFL games ( mostly the Ugly sisters) is a joke in the first place, good riddance to them.

[Ten Caat]

Another of Dungcaster's fuck ups. Genuinely no idea how that ugly speccy c@nt still clings on to a job in Scottish football. When his mate Regan walked before he was pushed Dungcaster should have been put on the same train south.

 

Anyway let's hope we get a decent replacement deal in place when this cowboy outfit do go tits up.

[donsdaft]

Just ban Scottish fitba being on the telly altogether.

 

Bring back the crowds, look like we dinna give a fuck, eventually get a much better deal.

 

We've let the TV companies rule the roost for far too long, just tell them to get tae fuck.

[Lencarl]

Just ban Scottish fitba being on the telly altogether.

 

Bring back the crowds, look like we dinna give a fuck, eventually get a much better deal.

 

We've let the TV companies rule the roost for far too long, just tell them to get tae fuck.

 

Is the correct answer.

 

Let's get the crowds back to Scottish football. There are teams in the Scottish Premiership who have under 4000 fans at their home games with half of them being away supporters and live TV featuring Celtic and The Rangers away games every week does not help the situation.

[tlg1903]

Just moving all fixtures back to Saturday 3pm would boost crowds significantly regardless of whether they were on the telly.  This not being allowed to broadcast a live game at 3pm is outdated nonsense now it's so easy and lucrative for  clubs to have their own online tv coverage. 

[Lencarl]

Professor Haynes believes the SPFL now has an outstanding chance to cash in on the huge numbers of Celtic and Rangers fans who live abroad, in Australia and the United States in particular, and bank millions of pounds for their leading clubs.  “It is unfortunate for the SPFL to be in this position and to have to pull out of the deal,” he said. “I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision to make. But, at the same time, it opens up opportunities for them to strike deals which will be more lucrative and broaden the reach of Scottish football.“Celtic and Rangers have, along with Manchester United and one or two other clubs, the biggest audience out there who want to see their games. Ex-patriots, second and third generation families who have kept their ties and traditions of following these clubs. It is huge, it really is massive. It is definitely a market for TV companies to exploit. Fans in no fewer than 167 overseas countries watched Ladbrokes SPFL and Betfred Cup matches last season. 

 

All the fans that say Celtic and Sevco don't matter in the Scottish game obviously do not read the Scottish Media take on them....

 

 

[Lencarl]

Sky Sports set to plough £100million into Scottish football as they blow BT Sport out of the picture in TV rights battle. They have lined up a three-year TV rights deal worth a whopping £30m-plus per season, blowing BT Sport out of the picture.An SPFL spokesperson said: “We are in regular dialogue with broadcasters with a view to securing the best deal for SPFL clubs and supporters from 2020.”

 

Still crap money from both TV companies for full TV rights of Scottish football.

 

All the top games in Scotland should be shown lve and that includes Celtic and The Rangers home matches not just when they meet each other. Do not let these two clubs dictate anything to do with live TV.

 

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster should demand at least £90 Million a season...

 

 

 

[Ten Caat]

 

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster should demand at least £90 Million a season...

 

The only thing Doncaster should be demanding is that the SPFL pay up his contract in full when they bin him (at least 4 years overdue)

 

However that Old Firm obsessed c@ant will probably still be shafting Scottish football for an excessive wage when sevco go tits up like their predecessors. And will engineer a way to let the new newco back into the league and find some way of convincing der Hun fans that mk3 is still the same club.

 

As for the TV deal....meh

[Kowalski]

Quite like the BT coverage, was hoping they’d nab the lot.

[manc_don]

FFS, we should be discouraging the pathetic coverage sky sports give Scottish football. Loathsome package. fuck off SPFL.

[donsdaft]

Ban TV coverage, or at least.... nah just ban it.

 

How can it be good for supporters?

Tell them to stuff their money

[Stewart]

Premier Sports have bought the rights to the Scottish Cup for the next 6 years.

 

Doesn't say if it's everything or just one of the packages but that's insane.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Premier Sports have bought the rights to the Scottish Cup for the next 6 years.

 

Doesn't say if it's everything or just one of the packages but that's insane.

 

Shared with the BBC

[Stewart]

Aye just read the full SFA statement.

 

The Scottish FA has today signed a six year broadcast deal with IMG to globally market broadcast rights for the William Hill Scottish Cup. BBC Scotland and Premier Sports will each broadcast a selection of fixtures in the competition, in a move that will see more Scottish Cup matches on free-to-air TV than ever before.

 

The deal will extend IMG’s relationship with the Scottish FA to over 20 years and includes live coverage from every round as well as gaming, archive and digital clips rights. It will run until the end of season 2023-24.

 

Premier Sports bring their reputation of high-quality sports broadcasting to the Scottish domestic scene for the first time, having already made a positive impact as exclusive rights holders for Guinness PRO14 rugby and over 40 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifying matches involving Scottish clubs.

 

BBC Scotland will add more depth to their broadcast coverage of the Scottish game and will support the promotion of the tournament across the country. From season 2019-20, BBC Scotland will also showcase one live match in Rounds 1 to 3 ensuring high quality coverage throughout the competition.

 

Supporters will be able to watch four live matches in Rounds 4 to 6, with both broadcasters each screening two live games per round on an exclusive basis. In the later stages of the tournament, Premier Sports will broadcast one semi-final exclusively while the other semi-final and the final will be shown across both channels.

 

Scottish FA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell, expressed his enthusiasm over the new broadcast deal, saying: “The William Hill Scottish Cup is a tournament that is steeped in history. In it, the clubs and players have created countless unforgettable memories and this deal will ensure that more action than ever before will be broadcast live to the nation.

 

“It will also drive significant revenue back to all the clubs who participate in the competition, ensuring ongoing investment into the game. We look forward to working with Premier Sports and the BBC to help us continue to tell the stories and cover the action of our top knockout competition.”

 

Michael Mellor, SVP, Football, IMG Media, said: “The Scottish Cup is one of the oldest competitions in world football and this new agreement with our partners at the Scottish FA will take us through to the 150th anniversary of the first one played in 1873/74. We look forward to ensuring this prestigious tournament is viewed as widely as possible on broadcast platforms around the globe.”

 

Richard Webb, Chief Operating Officer, Premier Sports commented: “We are delighted to be adding coverage of the Scottish Cup to our channel line-up. Over the last eight years we have established a positive relationship with Scottish football clubs and fans covering their teams European qualifiers. We are proud to be guardians of this historic cup competition and understand the significance, history and traditions the famous trophy demands. We look forward to bringing viewers quality coverage of the tournaments biggest games for the next six years.”

 

Steve Carson, Head of Multiplatform Commissioning, BBC Scotland said:  “We are delighted to be significantly enhancing our Scottish Cup coverage through this new deal which will see us bring more live matches from the tournament than ever before.  We will cover two live matches from Rounds 4, 5 and 6 and, from Season 2019-20, we will follow the early rounds across the country for the first time.  We think this is good news for audiences in Scotland given the huge appetite which exists for Scottish football, and it demonstrates our commitment to the game here.”

 

Good news about the earlier rounds.

[CvB]

Aye just read the full SFA statement.

 

Good news about the earlier rounds.

 

No, it's absolutely shite. With an increased number of games being shown it will be the gruesome twosome and whatever other games are deemed to be attractive, with a raft of games being played at stupid as fuck kick off times thus inconveniencing more and more supporters.

Premier Sports for fucks sake, so any punter who wants to watch their fill of football now has another subscriber to shell out for. Fuck them.

The only reason I keep Sky is because the rest of family watch it. I ditched BT because they were charging me 2/3 the price I pay for a full sky package and all I watched on BT was the occasional game that didn;t involve the glasgow 2.

Be fucked if I'm also going to shell out for Premier just to watch the weedgies play Stranraer and Cowdenbeath in the Scottish Cup.

Just something else to allow me to naturally drift away from caring about what happens outwith the one game I want to watch per week.

[donsdaft]

All football TV contracts should include free subscription for any season ticket holder.

 

That right, if you have a season ticket for Brechin City, Alloa or Aberdeen then you automatically qualify for free subscription to any channel showing Scottish football.

 

 

[Stewart]

DO NOT subscribe to premier sports period

 

 

https://spfl.co.uk/news/spfl-secures-ground-breaking-broadcast-deals

 

THE SPFL HAS AGREED A SERIES OF GROUND-BREAKING BROADCAST DEALS WHICH WILL SEE MAJOR INCREASES IN REVENUES FOR THE SCOTTISH PROFESSIONAL GAME.

 

The UK & Ireland broadcast rights for the Ladbrokes Premiership, Betfred Cup and IRN-BRU Cup from 2020-21 were auctioned and the winning bids were revealed to clubs by Chief Executive Neil Doncaster at a meeting at Hampden Park this afternoon. The Premiership clubs then gave their approval to each of the winning bids.

 

Whilst the commercial details of the agreements have not been revealed, under the new deals:

 

• Sky Sports will exclusively broadcast up to 48 Ladbrokes Premiership live matches per season, as well as up to six Premiership / Championship play-off matches, in each case for five seasons from 2020/21

 

• Premier Sports will exclusively broadcast between 12 and 16 Betfred Cup live matches and highlights per season

 

• Existing BBC Scotland television highlights and live radio packages have been renewed for five seasons from 2020, as well as up to 20 live Ladbrokes Championship matches per season for 2018/19 and 2019/20

 

• MG ALBA has agreed BBC ALBA will also broadcast one deferred Ladbrokes Premiership match each Saturday evening, live matches from the IRN-BRU Cup and the Ladbrokes Championship / League 1 and Ladbrokes League 1 / League 2 play-of finals for three seasons from 2020/21

 

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster, speaking immediately after the meeting with Premiership clubs at Hampden Park, said: “Every single deal is a major increase on our current contracts. Taken together, these deals represent the largest ever injection of broadcast investment since the SPL was founded over 20 years ago.

 

“Whilst we are not in a position to reveal exact figures, it’s indicative of the sums involved that the clubs quickly voted to accept the deals put before them.

 

“Interest in the Scottish game is extremely high both at home and overseas and this has been reflected in the size of the commercial deals we have been able to strike in what is definitely a very challenging market.

 

“It has been a remarkably complex and time-consuming process, but we have definitely got the right result and our media advisor Phil Lines has played an important role in achieving this successful outcome.

 

“We’re particularly pleased that we have been able to agree a deal for the Ladbrokes Premiership matches on an exclusive basis with a single live broadcast partner. Sky Sports has been at the heart of the football broadcasting revolution for many, many years and its determination to secure our rights and its commitment to ensuring excellence in its programming are extremely encouraging.

 

“We are also delighted to announce a deal with Premier Sports to broadcast the Betfred Cup and the continuation of our partnerships with BBC Scotland and MG ALBA.

 

“The significant, additional money which will come into Scottish football will be extremely welcome. The game can only benefit from the strong investment and widespread exposure these deals have secured.”

 

Barney Francis, Sky Sports’ Managing Director, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for Scottish football – something that has been reflected in the number of fans tuning in to watch on Sky Sports. With more games, in-game clips and highlights of every single Ladbrokes Premiership clash, fans won’t miss a minute. Add in live coverage of Scotland’s Nations League campaign, and every European Championship and World Cup qualifier and we’ve really got the Scottish game covered.”

 

Michael O’Rourke, Premier Sports’ Chairman, said: “I am genuinely delighted to secure the rights to the Betfred Cup for five seasons from 2020. This deal compliments our recently announced deal with the Scottish FA for their cup competition and completes a unique double for Premier Sports. We are looking forward to working with the SPFL in the years ahead.”

 

Steve Carson, Head of Multiplatform Commissioning, BBC Scotland, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this new deal with the SPFL. We know there is a huge appetite for Scottish football amongst the audience and these deals will allow us to bring them more action than ever before from the top tiers of the game. It’s great news for fans of the Scottish game and we’re looking forward to delivering a multiplatform package of high-quality coverage across TV, radio and online.”

 

Iseabail Mactaggart, Director of Strategy and Partnership at MG ALBA, commented: “We’re delighted to secure this agreement with the SPFL. It means Gaelic-language sports programming remains open for all across Scotland.”

[tlg1903]

Can see me cancelling bt sport now.

[manc_don]

What an awful deal for Scottish football.  Sky sports, the worst sports provider getting more games?!?

[tlg1903]

Wonder if Sutton and Stewart et al will make the transition to sky now.

[Kowalski]

What a pile of steaming shite. BT’s coverage has been really good. A sad day for Scottish fitba.

 

Hopefully this drive to get as much money out of broadcasting rights as possible ends one day. This constant competition between all the broadcasters fucks me off and I’m not paying for multiple subscriptions to watch a few leagues and cups.

 

Fuck Premier Sports.

[wee toon red]

BT's coverage is undoubtedly streets ahead of Sky's and it'll be a pity to lose that. However, if they weren't prepared to pay "the going rate" then tough luck.

[manc_don]

Be interested to see the percentage split (value wise) between all the clubs and the two bids. Obviously just a hunch, but it wouldn't surprise me if the two cheeks got vastly more under the accepted bid.