Celtic has opted out of Premier Sports’ contract with the SPFL.
Sky Sports is the major broadcaster of the SPFL, having rights to five Celtic home games per season, including the opening against Kilmarnock and the inaugural Glasgow Derby.
That leaves them with two other decisions to make, in addition to the March Glasgow Derby, with Aberdeen’s visit on 19 October looking about as appealing as it gets for domestic games.
With Sky declining the option for the match versus the Dons, Premier Sports surprised everyone by stepping in.
Premier displayed St Johnstone’s visit to Ibrox on Sunday, with other matches scheduled from Tannadice and Pittodrie in the following months.
Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail explains why the Celtic against Aberdeen match is not being aired.
CELTIC has apparently opted out of the SPFL’s contract, which granted Premiership television rights to Scottish Premiership fixtures.
This implies that the channel will not carry any Parkhead home league matches this season.Sky Sports remains the primary broadcaster of the Scottish Premiership. Sky now has access to 60 Premiership matches, up from 48 in the previous agreement, starting this season.
In June, Premier Sports officially joined the Premiership party.The Irish broadcaster, which currently owns the rights to the Scottish Cup and Premier Sports Cup, has signed an agreement with the SPFL to broadcast 20 Premiership matches starting this season.
An arrangement to offer a supplementary package to Premier allowed the Irish broadcaster to show up to two additional games from any Premiership stadium. And raised the prospect of future showcase matches in the SPFL being broadcast live.
Celtic were unwilling to bother season-ticket holders and home fans coming from further afield by moving extra 3pm Saturday kick-offs to a later time, despite being offered £75,000 for each additional home game — with a maximum payment of £150,000 for two. Last night, the club declined to comment.
As part of their agreed-upon contract until 2029, Sky retains first choice on two additional bundles of ten SPFL games at a cost of £4 million each beginning this season.
When Sky declined to exercise the option, they were left exposed to the market. And, while the Premier League arrangement falls far short of the sums agreed upon with Sky, eleven of the twelve teams chose to accept the money in any case, with league sources noting a desire to increase the viewership and broadcast more live games, such as the Dundee and Edinburgh derbies, than last season.
Neil Doncaster announced the Premier Sports deal in early June.
We are tremendously thankful to Premier Sports for their expanded investment in the game, which will bring an additional eight-figure sum into Scottish football over the next five years, resulting in even more record-breaking payouts to clubs.
That minimum sum works out to £2 million every year, divided by 11 clubs, or £181,818 per club per season.
It seems strange that the SPFL can negotiate accords that allow individual clubs to opt out. UEFA would not negotiate TV arrangements that Real Madrid might opt out of; an EPL package that excluded Manchester City’s home games would appear weird.
Premier Sports can air Celtic away games, including last month’s 6-0 triumph over St Johnstone on Saturday at 5.45pm.
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