Mainz, Germany - November 9: sky sports microphone during the Bundesliga match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund at Mewa Arena on November 9, 2024 in Mainz, Germany. (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
No sooner had yesterday’s game finished than we found out Sky Sports would show the Hearts game on Wednesday night, and not Celtic’s trip to Motherwell.
Now, before anybody starts, I will say this right away: I have no problem with them covering the Hearts game.
They are entitled to do that. In fact, because Hearts can win the title on Wednesday if Celtic lose at Motherwell, they are almost obliged to cover it. That is not the issue here.
The issue is that they are not covering the Celtic game as well.
To cover Hearts but not cover Celtic, the champions, while we are still playing for the title, is one of the worst decisions the broadcaster has taken.
Let us be honest. It is a show of contempt for Scottish football.
They need to show the Hearts game. Fine. But there is no reason for them not to show the Celtic game as well. We are down to two teams who can win it. If there were three clubs involved, you might understand why it would be difficult to cover them all. But there are two.
They can cover two.
They should have made the pitch to cover two.
It is outrageous that they are not doing it.
Motherwell v Celtic could be a classic for the ages. Everybody not following Hearts will want to see it. Everybody invested in this title race will want to know what is happening at Fir Park in real time, not through goal flashes and studio updates while another game plays out somewhere else.
This is just another example of how terrible Scottish football’s TV deal is, and how badly the amateurs who run our game have sold the product.
For weeks, we have been told this is one of the most exciting title races in Europe. Everyone has been talking about it. Everyone has been hyping it. Everyone has been telling us how wonderful it is for the Scottish game that there is real drama at the top.
So what is the point of pitching it as the most exciting league race in Europe if, when you get to the penultimate round of fixtures, only one of the two title contenders is shown live?
That is a joke.
If this was England, you would not get them showing just one game.
The contempt is off the charts.
From what I can gather, there is no way for another broadcaster to pick up the game because Sky has exclusivity and will show the goals. But that is not the same as showing the match. It just pisses all over us.
I have no doubt I will see the game anyway. I have no doubt everyone who really wants to see it will see it anyway.
But it still stinks.
Think about how many weeks and months the media, the league and the SFA have spent hyping this title race as the best in Europe. I disputed that, because there have been other good races. La Liga was tight for a while. The English Championship is going to the final days just like ours. Arsenal are heading for an historic end to the season one way or another.
But we have been told this whole time that Scottish football is the envy of the continent.
That was not true.
But enough people were saying it that I thought they at least meant it. I thought they were at least trying to promote it.
How much promoting can they really have done if they have meekly allowed only one game to be covered?
Imagine the Ibrox club were still in this. Imagine there were three clubs going for the title, all playing different games on the same night. How the hell would they have picked one? Would they have chosen Hearts then? I wonder.
I think we all know the answer.
They may even have gone with Ibrox.
But the simple fact is that any scenario where they are not showing all the contenders is doing the league a disservice. They would never treat a more high-profile league like this. It proves they do not really care about the title race in Scotland. It proves they do not prioritise it. It proves that, to them, our game is still an afterthought.
The SFA and SPFL cannot deny that when decisions like this are made.
There is still time for the SPFL and Sky to get together and make the right call. There is still time to show both matches. But that time is running out. A deal would have to be made very quickly, and Sky would have to find a slot for it.
But let us be honest. Most of Scotland would rather watch the Celtic and Hearts games than some third-rate match from a foreign league.
The next couple of days will tell us how seriously they take the game here. They will tell us how seriously the SPFL is trying to sell it.
I am not confident.
Because anyone who has watched a Scottish game live on Sky and then seen coverage cut away to an English match knows how little they value our teams and our league.
Even when we have a genuine title race, they still cannot bring themselves to treat it properly. Even when we have genuine history potentially being made by Hearts, who could become the first non-Glasgow champions in more than 40 years, even that is apparently not enough to get them to take us seriously.
You have to wonder: if that is not enough, what is?
Maybe nothing.
Maybe that is the answer.
Maybe nothing will ever be enough while the present leadership are the people doing the selling.
These people could not sell water in the Sahara Desert. If you cannot sell this league now, on the basis of what we are seeing, you should not be allowed to sell anything ever again.
They have done a terrible job of it so far.
As I said, there is still time for that to change.
Maybe it will.
But I will not hold my breath waiting for these amateurs to suddenly find the shred of professionalism they have lacked so far.
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Isn’t the Sky contract always for a certain number of matches per season? If they’ve reached that number with two games left, they may not be able to show it as it’s beyond their contractual number of matches….
They can make an exception Captain. Hearts have already had their allocation of home games shown live, and sky/our fearless leaders decided an exception could be made. Maybe if we all complained to the broadcaster they might be able to make another one.
I’m not certain of this but I suspect if it’s a game outwith the standard contract the home club – Motherwell – holds all the aces and may be able to name their price! Its entirely possible ‘negotiations’ are ‘ongoing’ to televise it.
A ridiculous situation, in Scotland we pay the same subscription as down south, but get a sub standard coverage of our game. Some of that is because our Football Authorities are pretty hopeless negotiators and some of it is complete disrespect by Sky towards Scottish football.
As for the people who run our clubs, They would rather show empty seats than sell tickets to opposing football fans who create the atmosphere that TV companies want.
There is time for common sense to be used, but I dont think it will be.
These are box office games, and it was on the cards for a while that this situation would arise. Yet no one associated with the SPL, or Sky Sports seemed to have the foresight to anticipate this.
In Scotland we have Eight and half per cent of the UK population and I would hazard a guess that we have the same percentage or more of Sky Sports subscribers, yet our football gets nothing like that share of the pot.
I know Sky would say the SPL product is sub standard to the EPL, but the SPL standard would be a lot better if Scottish football got the percentage it was due.
I may be in the minority, but I very seldom watch English football as I find most games bland and boring. Anybody watching this seasons Champions League semis could see that the teams representing the Bundesliga and Ligue One in France, were far more entertaining and more skilful, than the much vaunted surviving representative of the “Best League In The World”.
Totally agree..the majority of the games in the epl are pish and they are on anyway
Would be interesting to show what % of sky subscribers live in.Scotlamd the the SPFL should get that %..
Lots of english say Scottish football is pish but dont want to admit there’s is shitetoo
If the spfl got more money in from tv then the product would be better.
And seeing empty stands all around the country is also pish- these provincial clubs need to wise up
James before you have your ranty you should check the facts the contract between sky and spfl if it has a codicil in the contract for the scenario we now have and if all partiescan come to agreement what it does is show the total incompetence of Doncaster and the rest of administration at hampdump they should all be sacked along with collum and all the useless officials all are total incompetence and are ruining the product of Scottish football for all fans and all supporter for all clubs. One more thing James you sound like a sevco zombie’s with your so called conspiracy theory.HAIL! HAIL!.we can do this
It won’t affect me personally as I’d rather be lying dead as ‘Rangers’ are in a ditch getting feasted upon by bloody rats than pay towards Sly Sky Sports Scotland for sure…
I’ll get it on the iPad if I’m not too nervous on Wednesday…
But for those who do wanna pay the wages of Void Boyd & Co. – It’s a disgrace and you’re bang on to flag it up !
If Sevco were in our position it would be on.
If they can show the goals from our match then they are filming it If they are filming it they can show it.
A Celtic fan protest against Sky should be arranged.
Volp, do you really believe this? I thought Sky were just in it for the money. Do you think it is more lucrative to show sevco games or Sky is run by sevco fans? I dont buy that volp. I think the problem is the product in Scotland is usually shite and they haven’t legislated for there being some interest at this stage. No?
Sky is English based and appear more sympathetic to Sevco than us.Im basing that on old memories and nothing more.
As I stated, if they can show goals from Fir Park then they are filming it,if they are filming it they can show it live.
If Motherwell are doing a PPV then I’ll just buy that or something though.
Sky bang on about this incredible title fight,first challenge in 40 years!
But they won’t show it all.
Tin pot and an insult to the paying customer.
Our game is on Motherwell PPV for £15
I do however agree that as soon as the game yesterday was over the SPFL and Sky should have negotiated for both games to be shown live simultaneously.
There must be contingencies in the contract that allow for these rare events?
What would they have done should it have gone to the last day and two different games could decide the destination of the title?
Notwithstanding we need to get a big result on Wednesday!
Both games will be on Sky.