SPFL Season declaration challenged legally (ongoing discussion)

[der Berliner 3,747]

2 hours ago, Bill said:

You seriously need to review your thinking on this.

No. It is hardly my intend to support the DR in any way. Yet looking away 24/7 is no answer. Never has been, never will be. 

[ian1964 10,724]

 

[gaspard 562]

2 hours ago, ian1964 said:

I am guilty of posting some articles from the Record, I never click the link, I did stop for a while, however during this period of the SPFL voting fiasco these articles that were quicker than our official site so felt it was worth while at the time. 

I don't intend posting any more from them.

However the way most clubs have and still treat Rangers with utter contempt I think our travelling fans feeding them the blue £££££s is far worse than posting articles from the Scottish gutter press, IMO.

Time to starve them of cash, but it won't happen. 

Personally I think there's nothing wrong in cutting and pasting an article from the gutters on here. Allows other folk to read without giving them the clicks they desperately want.

Much better than posting links.

[Uilleam 5,948]

28 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

 

Here's the article in full:

 

Neil Doncaster must negotiate well — or face ten million problems

Sports Columnist of the Year

Michael Grant

, Scottish Football Correspondent

Wednesday May 13 2020, 12.01am, The Times

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/neil-doncaster-must-negotiate-well-or-face-ten-million-problems-fx2nf52g2

 

The Scottish Professional Football League is about to put itself £10 million in debt to one company it has provoked in the past and another that is shooting it the stink-eye right now.

Neil Doncaster has the fallout from the extraordinary general meeting vomiting into his in-tray, mutinous clubs saying they don’t trust his regime, sweeping allegations of incompetence, legal threats over relegation, an information vacuum on how and when football will restart, no title sponsor and all the humdrum, general daily ball-ache that comes from being chief executive of the SPFL. But he’d better get ready to paint on a smile and hit the Zoom conferences again. He’ll soon have a whole lot of sweet-talking to do.

In the coming days the SPFL board vote that agrees to make Celtic champions and relegate Hearts will also confirm the end of the season and trigger that potential £10 million liability to Sky Sports and BT Sport. This isn’t “potential” in the sense that any of us has the potential to win tonight’s lottery. It’s a real figure and a real problem, a grave financial consequence of Covid-19 snuffing out the football flame.

In response to the Rangers dossier, Doncaster said the potential £10 million debt wasn’t from how the season finished early (voting it null and void, declaring the champions, whatever), but from the simple fact of it finishing early at all. The SPFL board vote will formally end the Premiership campaign and, by doing so, trigger that liability.

A deal is a deal. Contracts were signed with Sky Sports and BT Sport for a certain number of games and the SPFL won’t be able to deliver them. Sky had been due another 11 live Premiership matches including Old Firm games at Ibrox and Celtic Park. BT had paid for another 11 in the Premiership and had the rights for six play-off matches. Between them that was worth £10 million, about £6 million of it thought to be due to Sky. Because the SPFL has no central reserves — in other words broadcasting and sponsorship money comes in and is released in its entirety after staff and running costs are removed — the only way it could pay any debt is by holding on to some of the money that would normally be released to clubs in August.

This will be all about relationships past, present and future. Scottish football has slapped Sky in the face a couple of times in the past. Having already been in bed together at the start of the SPL a Sky bid worth £45 million was rejected for the failed “SPL TV” option in 2002. Then there was the fateful tie-up with Setanta that began in 2004. Sky came to the rescue when Setanta went down the grubber in 2009 but by then their terms were far less favourable and there was a further tightening of the screw after Rangers tumbled out of the top flight in 2012.

The Sky executives whose noses were put out of joint by the SPL years ago are no longer there. The five-year deal worth £160 million that kicks in on August 1 was negotiated with new people, and within Hampden there is a sense of confidence about an old partnership having a sense of renewal. Let’s hope they’re right.

 

Sky Sports keep its cards close to its chest but if it is willing to strike a deal with Doncaster there are avenues to explore instead of simply demanding their millions back. As the Rangers dossier pointed out, Doncaster has suggested that league naming rights worth £1.5 million a year could be given to Sky for free. They might be given far more access and interview rights over the coming deal. They could be offered more games as part of the existing deal although that may not appeal considering they could have had more in the original agreement had they wished. At the very least the debt could be gradually met by a phased reduction of future SPFL income over the course of the new contract.

 

Doncaster must be strong at the negotiating table but he does have bargaining power. There have been suggestions that the broadcasters would aggressively seek to claw back money and play hardball with the SPFL and especially England’s Premier League, where the liability soars to £761 million. “Failing to finish the Scottish season: Sky angry, BT angry, £10 million owed! Failing to start the new one on time: Sky angry, could claim breach of contract! A reconstructed top flight: Sky angry, could renegotiate and cut the £160 million deal.” But it’s always more nuanced than that.

It’s not in Sky’s interests to shaft football. A vibrant Premier League is the cornerstone of its subscription model and to a much lesser extent they need the numbers in Scotland too. Harming the SPFL means weakening the attractiveness of the very product they’re trying to sell to armchair viewers. This will be a massive challenge for Doncaster, but Sky might be receptive. It is expected to reach a settlement with England rather than claim back the £371 million owed to them there. The bill due from Scotland is chicken feed.

BT Sport is different. The company was soured by losing its share of the rights and is expected to be more hostile towards the SPFL when it comes to money it is due. In March, when Doncaster referred to broadcasters not showing Scotland “the love they show other leagues” it was a sign of BT’s hurt when presenter Darrell Currie tweeted “totally disrespectful from Doncaster here” and “he’s told us in person how much he’s enjoyed our work. Pathetic.”

So, yes, there will be tension when the SPFL and BT executives meet to thrash out their share of the liabilities but both parties will be mindful of the long game. Doncaster needs BT to come back to the table when the next negotiations begin in 2023 because an auction with Sky drives up the price. Nor can BT Sport burn its bridges when it may want to squeeze back into the carve-up of rights next time.

BT Sport’s final Scottish football programme goes out on Friday and its popular, innovative and edgy coverage will be sorely missed. It leaves the scene with football in their debt in more ways than one.

 

 

I have to ask (no one else is): whatever happened to force majeure, or like boilerplate Armageddon Clauses?

 

Are we to assume:

SKY/BT and SPFLLtd agreed contracts with no such standard get out of gaol provisions? Or

 

Coronavirus and its impact -eg plague and/or pandemic- are excluded from any such Clauses? Or

 

There are such provisions but they are of benefit only to SKY/BT? Or

 

That such provisions exist, but that SPFLLtd must exhaust reasonable endeavours in trying to see the League fixtures completed, before they kick in?

(In this regard, it is instructive to compare the efforts of the EPL  to complete the season, which, I may say, are significantly more strenuous than those of Rum, Bum, and Concertina at Hampden.)

 

Like much about SPFLLtd, this doesn't seem to ring true. 

 

 

 

 

[ian1964 10,724]

AT A TIME when we should all be looking forward to celebrating the start of our 150th anniversary, Stranraer FC have found ourselves thrust into the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
 

Particularly at an unprecedented time of distress for nations across the globe, this ongoing situation should certainly not have brought such adverse scrutiny.

The SPFL resolution that has been the subject of much debate which ultimately condemned both ourselves and Partick Thistle to what we felt was an unjust relegation.

As you will all be fully aware, on Tuesday there was an EGM of all SPFL clubs that was initially requested by Rangers FC, Heart of Midlothian FC and Stranraer FC whereupon, we called for an independent enquiry into what we collectively felt was a genuine grievance concerning the due governance of our game.

We have consistently stated that the original resolution was fundamentally flawed, therefore we wanted to allow for a comprehensive investigation to source true learning outcomes from the process to date.

Ultimately, we failed to get sufficient numbers to carry the day however, 13 (thirteen) clubs from all levels of our game did vote to what they considered to be cause for concern, with a desire to highlight failings of a proper process at board level.

There have been various persons suggesting that a line is now drawn on this matter, and we subsequently now move on for the greater good of the game. If I may state, this is an extremely easy analysis to arrive at when you have no concerns, nor were adversely affected by actions of recent decisions.

I make no apologies for the fact that it is not in my nature to concede all too easily, or indeed remain silent, nor accept any decision that I feel is unjust towards our football club - a club that I am extremely proud to serve as chairman.

As such, I intend, with the full backing of my committee, to explore all avenues in order to properly redress, with fellow likeminded clubs to achieve what I believe is the righting of wrongs on so many fronts.

Iain Dougan
Chairman
Stranraer FC

http://www.stranraerfc.org/index.php/77-latest-news/1748-statement-egm#

[compo 7,051]

Forget about us for a second I just think its highly dubious and even corrupt to relegate a club when they can still retain their position in the league. 

It just makes our whole set up look amerturish. 

[Gonzo79 15,294]

Unfortunately, Peter and his puppets aren't interested in how our game is perceived.  They'll be given what they want this week and that's all that matters to them. 

 

I still think Hearts are in the best position to fight the league being declared as things stand.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Rangers should gain an injunction to stop the league being called. Better still hearts should 

[barca72 440]

23 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

Rangers should gain an injunction to stop the league being called. Better still hearts should 

Liewell would appreciate his favourate weapon being used, eh?

[ranger_syntax 4,330]

14 hours ago, ian1964 said:

I am guilty of posting some articles from the Record, I never click the link, I did stop for a while, however during this period of the SPFL voting fiasco these articles that were quicker than our official site so felt it was worth while at the time. 

I don't intend posting any more from them.

However the way most clubs have and still treat Rangers with utter contempt I think our travelling fans feeding them the blue £££££s is far worse than posting articles from the Scottish gutter press, IMO.

Time to starve them of cash, but it won't happen. 

Hate to break it to you but football supporters go to football matches.  Though the straits be broad or narrow and so on. Promoting the Record is an unrelated activity.

 

People attending matches is healthy for Scottish football. The Scottish football press circulating nonsense is very unhealthy.