EXCLUSIVE: Sky won't fall: TV giants insist SPL deal is on - even without Rangers By JOHN MCGARRY PUBLISHED: 23:09, 17 June 2012 | UPDATED: 23:09, 17 June 2012 Sky has rubbished claims it is set to pull the plug on Scottish football if Rangers are not playing in the top flight next season. The satellite broadcaster which, together with ESPN, is three years into a £65million five-year deal, has so far kept its own counsel on the crisis that has engulfed Scottish football since the Ibrox club lurched into administration, before being liquidated last week. With Charles Green’s Sevco consortium attempting to smooth a passage back into the top flight for the newco Rangers, there is no guarantee the four Old Firm games that are central to the existing deal will take place next season. Under pressure: Rangers boss Ally McCoist faces an uncertain future An improved £80m five-year deal, to supercede the existing agreement, remains unsigned and, barring a remarkable turn of events, looks likely to remain so. The prospect of the existing agreement being shredded as a result of the ongoing saga looks nil, however. Reports last week claimed Sky were ready to rip up the existing deal if its terms were breached. But a senior London source told Sportsmail that, although a degree of renegotiation might be required in that eventuality, there is no question of the broadcaster walking away. Sky has never, ever discussed pulling out of covering Scottish football,’ he said. 'We have not discussed that possibility, either with the SPL or any other footballing authority. Nor has that been on the agenda for consideration within Sky, despite all the problems and difficulties being faced by Scottish football at present. 'If Rangers are not in the SPL, that would change things for us, naturally. It would leave a quality hole in Scotland’s top division. Competition would deteriorate and, in that event, we would have to renegotiate. ‘But let us be very clear — we have always tried to be supportive of Scottish football and have never made any negative noises or sent any negative messages. ‘Scottish football is still very much in our plans for the future. Walking away has never been on our agenda.’ In the hotseat: Charles Green completed his takeover of Rangers Sportsmail’s source also stressed that Sky would not try to influence the outcome of the current crisis. ‘We have, in the past, been asked for our opinions, but we believe that football should be run by the football authorities. We are a TV company,’ he said. The ongoing crisis in the Scottish game will be illustrated on Monday when the SPL releases its fixtures for season 2012-13 with ‘Club 12’ taking the place of Rangers. The club representatives attending the SPL’s monthly meeting will also be given an update on the investigation into alleged double contracts, following Sportsmail’s revelations that off-shore payments were excluded from players’ contracts over a decade. However, the new incarnation of the Ibrox club could yet be playing in the top flight, if Green gets the seven additional votes he requires from the SPL in two weeks’ time. Such a scenario is being bluntly opposed by the majority of fans throughout Scotland, who believe sporting integrity should override any commercial interests. Weekend reports suggested a compromise might come in the shape of a radical revamp of the Scottish game, which would see the SPL and SFL merge into one body in time for the new season. It has been suggested the newco Rangers would begin life in the second tier — SPL2 — with Dundee promoted to the top division. Dark days: Rangers' future remains in doubt after going into liquidation The fudge would be designed to punish the new Rangers by ensuring they do not re-enter at the highest level — while keeping sponsors and TV companies onside through the expansion of the SPL to two divisions. Promotion and relegation play-offs for all divisions, a pyramid system for league entry and a rethink on TV revenue distribution would be the other facets of the plan being hatched within the SFA. However, David Longmuir, chief executive of the Scottish Football League, said he was against any such plan. ‘It would be a newco scenario and the only way we could accommodate any new application would be to create a gap in the Third Division through the play-offs with teams shuffling up,’ he said. ‘We would then judge every case on its own merits. ‘There would be no provision for any newco Rangers to go into the First Division rather than the Third. ‘The decisions that have to be made by the SPL and SFA in the coming weeks are far more crucial than the knock-on effects that come to the SFL. ‘There are no winners in this situation. The good of the game is balancing sporting integrity with the finances available and to be realistic about the future.’
Timmy Thomson is out n Syria getting shout at. He comes back and within 24 hours he is rattling the Exhuns. Meanwhile only Jim Spence is sticking it to them. It really is a bad joke.
But but but, they've signed a contract and if they reneged on that then the SPL could sue them..... It's funny how stupid Scottish football fans are, they believe the press when they want to, then accuse them of "cunshpirasheesh" when they don't believe them. He knows they're lying, because he read it in the paper. A 'senior Sky Source' told the Sun nonetheless.
So Rebel's able to get stories planted in the Daily Mail and Scottish Sun. Man's even more influential than Ben Hero thinks.
Did you expect them to get a quote from rupert Murdoch? Or would you believe it more id they named someone none of us have ever heard of as he works for antv company?
I see the fixtures are out Celtic first 2 away games are at Ross county and Inverness meaning 4 trips to the highlands but club 12 will only have 2 trips to the highlands . Is this to save newco money ????
I haven't seen it. Is our traditional Ne'erday derby against Club12 at home or away? Dundee is ****ing freezing at that time of year, man <brr>
If you choose to believe the 'source' then the most interesting bit is the phrase 'renegotiate'. Will they renegotiate to a) increase the money paid for the rights to the SPL without 4 Old Firm games b) decrease the money paid for the rights to the SPL without 4 Old Firm games
Or keep the money the same but have more games on TV? Or something entirely different. Anyway, point is it's not the financial armageddon that some commentators would have us believe.
It would be to decrease the amount of course, if they can. However, at the moment Celtic and (used to be) Rangers get a far larger share of the kitty than the other 10 teams. With no Rangers, the pro rata share increases so any decrease in overall spending by SKY will be offset by an increase in each club's share of the pot. Each team will lose out a bit but not by nearly as much as no SKY deal at all which, let's face it, was one of NewCo's main arguments for allowing them straight into the SPL.
I would say decrease. I would also say that 11 other clubs would be better off. I'll go further. Every club that exists in Scotland will be better off bar the team that wins the spl.
Additional to the TV revenue, there will be much smaller TV exposure for shirt and stadium sponsors as well. This will mean lower revenue generated for this. I don't believe either that a more open league (now a one horse race) will have the fans flocking back so the clubs will get the money back in gate receipts. The chairmen are between a rock and a hard place. If they bow to fan pressure then the fans need to put their money where their mouth is and put their arses on seats. Aberdeen fans are a prime example. Average home attendances of 4k while less than 90 made their way to a game at Killie. Should the fans that don't put money into their club be allowed to put pressure on their Chairman to make a decision on the financial future of the club? Do their opinions really count? I'd prefer Rangers to be demoted to Division 3 but by the time they return to the top flight there will be other clubs that have gone to the wall. I don't necessarily believe that it's a bad thing either. Tom English makes a good point that any club who's business model relies on another club is set up to fail. One thing about recession and times of financial hardship is that strong companies survive and the poorly run ones fall by the wayside. As there are too many senior clubs on Scotland this could benefit Scottish football as a whole so that money that enters the game isn't diluted to teh same extent.
It's certainly an excellent opportunity to change Scottish football for the better but that's what it has to be about. Not changing it to benefit one team.
