Yesterday I wrote an article stating my opinion that Scottish football is underrated and that it deserves more credit than it currently receives. In my opinion the so called leaders in our game should be working on plans to showcase the game in Scotland to a larger audience and looking at how to maximise TV revenue in the future. I believe if we had capable, forward thinking men and woman leading from the front then Scottish football could receive the recognition it deserves.
Before I start I want to set the record straight. I know Scottish football has its limitations. I know our teams aren’t world beaters. Yes, in recent years apart from Celtic, Rangers and theRangers Scottish teams have been massive under-achievers in Europe. The third and fourth teams in our league should be good enough to make it to the group stages of the Europa Conference League at the very least.
Teams like Dundalk in the League of Ireland have proved far more effective on the European stage than the likes of Aberdeen and Hibs.
This isn’t my point however, I’m stating that our league as a whole is worth more than it is currently getting in TV revenue. Let’s take a look at this season. A resurgent Celtic, who under Ange Postecoglou have gelled a lot quicker than most expected, neck and neck with last year’s champions. Every match vital for both clubs.
Tough games like the one we just endured against Hearts providing plenty of twists and turns leading to a tense finish as all involved knew how vital the points on offer were. Huge talking points in both that game and the one simultaneously played at Ibrox were a late goal and a potential goal line handball caused controversy as the home team scraped across the line to win 3 points.
The two biggest clubs in the country are due to battle it out in a huge match this coming Wednesday night at Parkhead in one of the most famous Derby matches in the world that will have huge ramifications in a tight title race. All this for around £30m a season.
There is not even a point comparing that to the megabucks on offer in the EPL where even the bottom club takes home double the amount the whole Scottish Premiership takes per season. Mental. Let’s however look at the EFL, with the Championship being the league that provides most of the live games that are shown on TV.
At £120m annually, they have a deal in place worth nearly as much per year as our five year contract with the same broadcaster will pay out. Is their product more exciting than ours? Do they have teams such as Celtic who are known worldwide and have a huge fan base? A title race between two bitter rivals with four massive games between the two guaranteed per year? No they don’t. Yes it’s a competitive league but the standard is no better than ours. Most matches I have previously watched have been pedestrian affairs with limited atmosphere from the crowd.
We can also look at our neighbours further north with the Scandinavian countries again bringing in more TV revenue than Scotland. Eurosport pay £50m per season for Sweden’s Allsvenskan, Discovery Network Norway pay £35m for Norway’s Eliteserien and Denmark’s Superliga brings in £46m. Do these leagues offer more than the Scottish Premiership?
If we look at the international TV rights things get even worse. At the moment there are a lot of eyes on our league from across the world mainly due to what’s been happening recently at Celtic. We now have an Australian manager in charge, the first manager from that part of the world to land such a big job in Europe and with it has come a lot of interest that was previously unheard of.
Then we have the Japanese factor. The Celtic squad now contains 4 players who hail from Japan, and it’s far from some advertising gimmick, these boys are first team players lighting up the league with fantastic performances regularly. The Japanese are football mad and they love following their stars as they venture further afield and try to make it on the European stage. Having four of them all tying to make it at Celtic will generate huge attention.
Yet it’s reported the Scottish Premiership receives around £2m a year in international TV rights. This is truly pathetic on the grand scale of things. Let’s again looks at other leagues. The EPL makes well over £1bn, Spain’s La Liga rakes in not far off a £1bn , Italy’s Serie A £337m, Germany’s Bundesliga £218m and even the French Ligue 1 bringing in £73m. Even the lower leagues in England bring in £23m a year. In contrast to what we bring in these figures are astounding.
People will say there are plenty of games played in our league that very little people would be interested in and they are right. This however goes for most leagues. Are people across the globe dying to watch Burnley v Wolves? Or the Championship game being broadcast today involving Peterborough United v Sheffield United? No, most are attracted by the ‘big’ teams.
In Celtic and to a lesser extent theRangers, Scottish football has got them. They also have one of the most famous derby games in the world four times a season. They have other other exciting games like the match we witnessed on Wednesday at Tynecastle and the match the previous week where Aberdeen should have beat theRangers at Pittodrie. Our product is worth more than £2m.
The Scottish Premiership needs to make changes though. It needs to showcase itself better. A start would be a total revamp to refereeing. The officiating in our league is beyond embarrassing. One of the first things that should happen is the introduction of VAR. This won’t end the terrible decisions however unless the people in control of the technology are competent. Tweaks like this will certainly modernise our game and make it more appealing. Eradicating plastic pitches is another must if we are to showcase our football to the highest standard.
Over the years plenty of focus has been on where we can go to maximise our money making potential. England? Atlantic leagues? How about we push the leaders of our own game into improving our product and showcasing the football in this country to a higher standard. Then they can negotiate deals at home and internationally that are worth getting excited about.
Conall McGinty
