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If Ibrox Really Does Bring Down The TV Deal The SPFL Deserves All It Gets.

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The press is reporting that the new TV deal with Sky, which has been signed off on by 11 out of the 12 clubs in the league, is on the brink of collapsing because the Ibrox club has not responded to the ballot measure before the deadline.

They have leaked it to “friendly” outlets that they are unhappy with it and are willing to see it fail.

Not even their attempted spin on it has disguised what this is really about.

This is the latest phase of their war against the governing bodies, a war that I have written about several times on this site and warned was getting out of hand.

The SPFL leadership has shown nothing but weakness in this conflict.

The other clubs, ours included, have shown nothing but weakness.

Ibrox has already opted out of at least two commercial deals – that we know of – including one that could have seen the main sponsor of the league walk away and tear up their deal.

The governing body allowed it all.

Ibrox has suffered no repercussions for its blatant and unprecedented obstructionism.

The intent is obvious; to bring down the current leadership. The SPFL board is acting as if this situation is tenable, as if there is some way for the two parties to co-exist.

But their club has no intention of adopting peaceful co-existence and it does not care whether every other club in the league suffers momentous collateral damage in this battle. They are betting that the rest of the clubs don’t have the appetite to get aggressive with them over this, and that assumption has stood them good so far.

A deal this big being jeopardised though?

That surely has to finally focus minds on how to bring the Ibrox club to heel.

I doesn’t even matter if this deal goes through now.

The threat to torpedo it will be heard loud and clear and every commercial discussion the SPFL has now, with any organisation who might have been interested, will have this hanging over them.

It is massively destabilising.

It’s not just that this is a massive issue in itself, but it’s surely the final proof that the Ibrox board has no intention whatsoever of putting their issues with the governing body to bed but will seek to damage the SPFL executive at every opportunity, regardless of what that means for the greater good, or anyone else in the game.

This is not made any better when you have idiots like the chairman of Hibs expressing the view that the club over there are perfect ambassadors and are the club that best represents our game.

You wonder how many other executives at other clubs think the same way.

The governing body is going to hold an “emergency meeting” to discuss this issue, and they are looking for possible ways of circumventing Ibrox’s veto.

It would fit them better if they finally got real about this and starting punching back.

But I fear Scottish football’s gutless “leaders” will bottle out of that, and opt for damage limitation instead. The damage is mounting up though. How much harm will Ibrox have to inflict on the rest of the clubs before that fact finally sinks in?

This game deserves everything that it gets.

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14 comments

  • Bhoy4life says:

    They aren’t gutless.
    They are being blackmailed over the 5WA.
    They are all in it up to their necks, including our club, and rather than being grateful that some saved their club from complete extinction, they weaponise the information for their own ends.
    Its time to fess up for the greater good of Scottish football and take away this big stick they use to beat clubs with.

  • Chris says:

    Spot on James,
    This all stems from the 5 way agreement all the way to where we are now.
    Changing rules just to admit a new club and setting up the phoney LNS decision to pretend it was the same club due to cowardice by the governing bodies gave sevco the impression they could do whatever they wanted.

  • Scud Missile says:

    So just what is it this time they ain’t happy about previously it was cinch clashing with Parks autos,just what is the issue with the toys getting papped out the pram again this time.
    The rest of the clubs including Celtic need to grow a pair and tell sevco to BOLT.

  • Benjamin says:

    James, as much as you’re right about the governance issues at play, I’ll be relieved if and when this deal fails. It is a terrible deal for fans and even worse for the clubs.

    Let’s call this broadcast deal what it is: a Rangers and Celtic TV deal. They’re the only games Sky has any interest in broadcasting, and you can count on one hand the number of matches they’ll show not involving one of those teams. And that includes the Championship Playoffs. Yet the league insists on shooting itself in the foot on the restrictions it places on the broadcasters regarding the number of games they can show in total as well as at each stadium. How much more would this deal be worth if they could show all 72 Celtic & Rangers games? How much more would the international rights be worth with all 72 Celtic & Rangers games included?

    And yes, I know there are concerns from smaller clubs about not being able to sell tickets if the game is being broadcast. But Celtic & Rangers have waiting lists for season tickets, and it’s their games that will be impacted. When Celtic & Rangers visit other grounds, they bring a traveling support that can fill every other stadium in the country multiple times over regardless of whether the game is being broadcast or not. If clubs don’t want to sell those tickets, that’s on them and they shouldn’t be able to hide behind excuses related to the broadcast deal. Lastly, any future broadcast deal should be sold on a right of first refusal basis, and the league & clubs should be able to find another broadcast partner should Sky decide not to broadcast it. Blackouts like what happened earlier in the season up in Ross Country should never be allowed to happen again. In a perfect world, the league would split off the digital streaming rights and sell those separately like MLS has done and all of these issues go away.

    Like I said at the beginning of this rant, the governance issues are a major concern. But this deal needs to die, and the clubs and fans alike will be better off when it does. I for one am thanking my lucky stars that at least one club has the guts to shoot this down even if it’s Them.

  • Scud Missile says:

    Get the 5 Way Agreement public and that puts sevco to shame and no more blackmailing,if it puts the rest of the clubs in a bad light so be it we know this already but it then shuts sevco up.

  • JT says:

    Scorched Earth FC strike again. They tried it with Cinch deal, now they have the bigger target. That mob won’t be happy until they force other clubs out the game and when the authorities act differently, as to how they were treated, they’ll point the finger at the treatment. They will only be happy when its their man in the hotseat changing the game rules to allow them to do as they please.

  • James Gallacher says:

    Benjamin:- you said Celtic R- – – – – -s 4 times get it right Celtic Sevco. For a friend

  • Paul says:

    Am sorry to say this but I agree with sevco on this. It’s a crap deal. We should not have accepted it.
    Why is it not getting put out for tender, then accept the best deal.
    Sky doesn’t even like Scottish football and their coverage is terrible

  • John Copeland says:

    When are the governing bodies of the game going to do their job properly ? Govern ! What is the point in having rules and regulations ,only for one club to make trouble at every decision it does not agree with ! A 3 point deduction for every time there is disdain or contempt to the detriment of the health of the sport ,would be a start to showing who is in charge !

  • Tony B says:

    Point of information. Rangers died in 2012.

  • Des McClure says:

    While I agree with your point that the SPFL board have been spineless in their dealings with Ibrox and subsequently brought all this on themselves for not slapping them down at the first opportunity I really can’t get my head round why we are in such a rush to sign this deal when the current one still has two seasons to go especially when the money on offer is garbage.
    Granted I don’t know all the particulars of the deal but my gut instinct is that we should be opposed to it too

  • Henriksgoldenboot says:

    SPFL boot them out! Boot them out! With no league to play in then there’s no champions league football for them to play and the riches they are after in that. See how long their stance lasts then!!

  • FSTB says:

    Anyone took into account that eufa have sevco in their financial crosshairs

    Could this be a reason for the other clubs trying to extend the current deal .

    If sevco are forced to live within their means ,how much would the spfl tv deal worth if sevco were finishing 25 pts behind every season

  • Peterbrady says:

    There must be penaltys to this the only way is points deduction and get Aberdeen hiibse even dirty fearts into top four and sevco will fold like the cardboard cutout they are

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