Today, football and TV go together like pies and Bovril and the support Scottish football receives from our broadcast partners has been crucial to the ongoing health of the game in this country.
Their eight-figure investment each season makes them a fundamental supporter of Scottish football and is of enormous benefit to all 42 of our member clubs, to the clubs’ own sponsors and, of course, to the fans.
Never was the backing of those broadcast partners more important than in 2012, when they supported our game in its hour of need.
Given some of the misleading information and rumours circulating this week, it is important that we re-state the facts relating to these hugely valuable partnerships.
It was more than a decade ago that a clause was first built into the then-SPL’s live broadcast contracts ensuring four Old Firm games per season were available to be covered.
Therefore, when Rangers ceased to be a member of the SPL, the broadcasters had the right to terminate the contracts immediately. The consequences of the deal falling would have been catastrophic for every team in Scotland - so the absolute priority was working to agree a new TV deal with our broadcasters (and the best possible deal at that).
Thanks to the willingness of all those round the table, the talks were successful and we renegotiated a broadcast deal which ensured the single biggest investment in our game would continue. As is the norm with any agreement there were conditions on both sides.
One was that the broadcasters would be able to access 15 Rangers games per season for as long as Rangers were playing in a league outwith the top tier of Scottish football. We therefore agreed a deal to buy 15 Rangers games per season from the then-SFL, to provide to the broadcasters.
Also, given the broadcasters would now incur increased costs as a result of erecting gantries, building rigging and establishing other facilities at a wide variety of smaller grounds – a significant additional cost compared with the original contract – we agreed to make a contribution to the broadcasters’ expenses.
In effect, the extra costs being incurred to cover games were reflected in a small reduction in the deal with one of our broadcasters.
To put this into context, the costs of covering the extra games was less than three per cent of the annual value of the deal.
To recap, the loss of Rangers to the SPL resulted in a risk of losing a multi-million pound TV deal fundamental to the health of our game. Thankfully, we worked with our broadcast partners to secure their ongoing support and investment, and both sides compromised for the greater good.
All this was done to ensure that we had valuable live broadcast contracts retained and in place for the benefit of the professional game, all 42 clubs, their sponsors and, crucially, their fans.
It was absolutely the right thing to do for the good of Scottish football.
Neil Doncaster
SPFL Chief Executive
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