November 20 – The Scottish Professional Football League has officially confirmed a series of broadcast deals following an auction process which sees Sky Sports become the lead broadcaster of the SPL from 2020 and Premier Sports the Betfred Cup.
Secondary packages have been secured with BBC Scotland and BBC Alba.
Sky’s five-year deal will see the UK broadcaster screen 48 Ladbrokes Premiership live matches per season, as well as up to six Premiership / Championship play-off matches. Under the current deal Sky share the coverage with BT Sport. The deal is reckoned to be worth more than £100 million.
Premier Sports will exclusively broadcast between 12 and 16 Betfred Cup live matches and highlights per season in a deal reckoned to be worth £20 million.
Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the SPFL, 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.”
For Sky, who also finally secured the English Football League rights yesterday, the deals mark a major cornering of the market for broadcast rights to British professional club football.
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: “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.”
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