The SPFL look set to secure a record breaking TV deal after it was revealed that Eleven Sports, would be throwing their hat into the ring to compete for Scottish football’s broadcasting rights.
The company which operates as a streaming service, founded by Leeds owner Andrea Radrizziani, have acquired La Liga, Serie A and PGA Tour rights this year alone and the Scottish game would be seen as expanding their broadcasting catalogue and boosting their UK reputation. With that said, the Setanta Sports fiasco should make the SPFL board think twice before agreeing to any deal as Setanta eventually ended up going into receivership. BT Sport and Sky Sports are the other options for the deal, which is due to be put out for bidding this month.
Currently, Sky Sports and BT Sport share the rights paying £21 million pounds per year to broadcast 60 games; however, a reboot by BT Sport has led to a move by the company to take the rights for themselves and deliver high quality product, that cares about the Scottish game and the product on the pitch. This would be a hammer blow to Sky, who currently have the ability to cherrypick games to their pleasing, most notably Glasgow Derby games.
BT Sport have impressed many football fans with their dedication to programming, including the Facebook Live Q&A, as well as Scottish Football Extra before games too. The panel, led by Darrell Currie has been lauded due to the dynamic and dedication to the game. Currie is supported by an array of onscreen talent such as: Stephen Craigan, Alan Stubbs, Michael Stewart, Ally McCoist and, of course, the mostly excellent Chris Sutton, who give different perspectives on the game and aren’t afraid to go in hard on each other.
Sky Sports, on the other hand, have attempted to rectify their ailing reputation in Scotland by hiring presenter Hayley McQueen from Sky Sports News and getting the double-act of Kris Commons and Kris Boyd as their guests. Unfortunately, it is too little too late in the opinion of many as Sky continues to treat the Scottish game with disregard as they have just thirty minutes of build up for even the biggest games and fail to acknowledge some of the smaller games without offering correct respect.
It will be interesting to see how the SPFL handle the negotiations and if they can do the unthinkable and seal a deal to project Scottish football back to a level where its drama, quality and produce merits. Hopefully, we are fortunate enough to see a record breaking deal be put together for our game’s broadcasting rights, both internationally and domestically.
Lubo98
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