The SPFL Signs Another Commercial Deal … And Again, Ibrox Opts Out Of It.

Yesterday, the governing bodies did the club from Ibrox a favour. This afternoon they’ve announced yet another commercial deal which Ibrox is refusing to participate in.

The words “you deserve all you get” are easily applicable here.

The governors of our game are weak, and Ibrox preys on that weakness.

They are a renegade club, doing whatever they like. Their behaviour threatens every commercial deal that the SPFL wants to sign. Every single one. But still this bizarre tolerance of their behaviour continues.

Now, the deal in question involves NFT’s and so I reckon the whole thing is ridiculous in the first place. NFT’s should be nowhere near football. The only difference between an NFT and a Ponzi scheme is that Ponzi schemes are illegal and NFT’s at the moment aren’t.

The market is unregulated.

Companies appear and disappear at a rapid rate.

Things are sold which lose their “value” within months or even weeks.

The whole concept underpinning it is vaguely preposterous, and I’ve been meaning to write on it for a while now.

I’ll get to it. But football has enough problems with gambling and other vices without adding to them with worthless junk like this, which does nothing but exploit the loyalty of football fans.

Ibrox’s excuse for not participating this time is the same as with cinch; they are already in a pre-existing agreement with another company. Two of them, in fact. This means they don’t have to participate. It is bullshit.

The SPFL’s regulations explicitly bind its member clubs to take part in its commercial activities; it is there in black and white. The organisation has rolled over to Ibrox on cinch by not imposing its writ on Ibrox, and this just repeats the scandal.

The SPFL does not have the stones to challenge their club on this stuff any longer, and that threatens every deal that Scotland’s top flight might want to sign. If one club can simply withdraw its participation, then why wouldn’t other clubs follow suit if they think they’re getting a raw deal?

The SPFL is essentially becoming a lawless environment.

Signing an NFT deal in the first place is a blatant money-grab at the expense of fans and so I would have been happier if clubs didn’t want to participate on the basis that NFT’s themselves are a shady business to be in … but to allow one club again defy the rest is ludicrous and especially at a time when they are asking Scottish football for favours.

Yes, the SPFL deserves everything that it gets.