At last.. SPL seal TV deal

[ian1964 10,625]

SPL bosses heaved a sigh of relief as a new £15million-a-year TV deal was finally confirmed yesterday.

A summer of turmoil left many top-flight clubs facing an uncertain future.

 

And Motherwell boss Stuart McCall summed up his fellow gaffersâ?? view when he said: â??Things look a LOT brighter now.â?

 

After grave warnings of an £80m black hole, broadcasters Sky and ESPN have come up with a package that helps guarantee financial security for the short term at least.

 

The deal was confirmed on the eve of the new SPL season, and McCall â?? whose side face new boys Ross County this afternoon â?? admitted: â??Thankfully, the situation is not as bad as we had first feared.

 

â??People were painting a doomsday scenario and there was no guarantee that Sky and ESPN would continue to back us.

 

â??They could have pulled the rug from under us.

 

â??But Sky are staying and ESPN are staying â?? so thatâ??s a lift to everyone.

 

â??Our worry was paying the playersâ?? wages.

 

â??If the TV deal wasnâ??t there then certainly before Christmas the money would have dried up.â?

 

Sky will screen Celticâ??s title party against Aberdeen today and Rangersâ?? Division Three opener at Peterhead on August 11.

 

Skyâ??s deal will see 30 games a season screened live â?? including five live Rangers SFL fixtures.

 

ESPN will bring TEN Gers games from the SFL â?? starting with the Ibrox sideâ??s trip to Berwick Rangers, now switched to Sunday August 26.

 

They will also screen 30 live SPL matches â?? starting with Dundee United v Hibs on Sunday.

 

Parkhead chief executive Peter Lawwell â?? who helped broker the deal â?? said: â??This is a great announcement for the SPL.

 

â??On behalf of everyone at Celtic, Iâ??d like to thank Sky for their continued commitment to the SPL.

 

â??ESPN is another organisation which has shown fantastic support to the SPL. Again, we thank the company for its long-term commitment.â?

 

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4470948/At-last-SPL-seal-TV-deal.html

[der Berliner 3,565]

It is nice to see that the Scum's boss is happy about a deal he brokered for Rangers and the SPL ... ahem ...

[Guest Dutchy]

I suspect he went into the meetings with the view, "There's no such thing as bad publicity", and talked them into backing the deal given the attention it's received.

 

Funnily enough though, I did hear the international screening were down a bit, but I'm not quite sure what it all meand yet as Doncaster was saying there's a 7 figure reduction for each club, but arsehole Spence was bleating in hope rather than reporting facts that it's only a 10% reduction.

 

Best to wait until the Sundays come out to see what the actual break down is.

[craig 5,199]

Sowe are responsible for 20% of the Sky games and a whopping 25% of the ESPN games...... Yep, their deals, whether they like it or not, are dependent on RANGERS.

[Bluedell 5,478]

A deal based on immoral blackmail. So much for the SPL and their sporting integrity. I guess there will be a lot of cancellations from the sporting integrity crew? Yet again shown to be a bunch of scummy hypocrites!

[foggy dewhurst 0]

just canceld sky and espn

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Sowe are responsible for 20% of the Sky games and a whopping 25% of the ESPN games...... Yep, their deals, whether they like it or not, are dependent on RANGERS.

 

for an accountant you maths is ropey

[the gunslinger 3,366]

anyway I get ESPN for free and was going to get sky. no chance I'm doing that now.

[der Berliner 3,565]

How about the Blue Order et al whip up a large banner for Ibrox games saying: "You are watching Sporting Integrity TV!"

[pete 2,499]

green should have held out for a better deal. He is not very good at chiken. Rangers should refuse to let camera inside ibrox