Today has seen the publication of this story in the Glasgow Evening Times.
Setanta want to retune SPL deal
THE SPL could suffer a serious cash blow, with satellite broadcasters Setanta reportedly planning to renegotiate the terms of their TV deal.
It has been claimed the Irish company want to restructure terms on a four-year deal, worth £125m, which they struck with SPL chiefs last year.
Senior executives at the station are believed to have sounded out SPL chief executive Lex Gold about the plan.
However, the top-12 clubs will push to get Setanta to honour their original agreement.
The company is rumoured to be experiencing financial problems in the difficult economic climate having lost half of the 46 Barclays Premier League games it shows after next season.
They are looking to downscale their operation in Scotland, although it is the lifeblood of most top-flight clubs.
Rangers and Celtic earn around £2.5m a year, a small fraction of the £30m a year their counterparts south of the border pick up from Sky.
Setanta’s current £54.4m deal with the SPL runs out at the end of next season, but they were quick to agree a new deal securing the right to show our national game until 2014.
The broadcasters are expected to make an announcement soon on their future plans, and the SPL could call an emergency meeting of their clubs to discuss the development.
Publication date 17/04/09
So, what does this mean for the Old Firm’s unfair tax on the smaller SPL sides?
The one thing that you can practically guarantee is that this potential re-structuring of the SPL television deal will affect the 10 no Old Firm sides far more than it will affect the “Big Two”.
Will Celtic and Rangers have the brass neck to say, raise their tax from 5% to 7.5%? Probably not. Buy, hey! Who would have thought that they would have ever got away with a 5% tax in the first place?
One thing IS damn sure and that is the simple fact that the TV bubble in Scottish Football seems to finally be about to burst.
No longer will money gleaned from TV revenue be able to finance the successes that the Old Firm teams have in European competition. Oh…hang on a minute. What do you mean “They haven’t HAD any!”?
Could this new twist in the comic-book organisation that is the SPL actually turn out to be a GOOD thing for Scottish Football then?
Might we be on the verge of what most “right thinking” Scottish football fans have wanted for years? Will the Old Firm do their utmost – and finally succeed – in moving out of Scottish football? Could it really be true that these vile, hatred filled institutions AND their equally vile and hate filled supporters might end up being somebody elses problem?
Could we be about to usher in a “Brave New World” in which, for the first time pretty much ever, we have an almost level playing field in the Scottish game?
Of course not! That’s just ridiculous dreaming on my part. After all, who would want them? Yes, the Celtic fans do seem to behave when on European duties and widely attempt to sell themselves as “the worlds’ best fans” but you can’t simply take one without the other or their reason for being would disappear. No, if you take Celtic…you have to take Rangers. And, who in their right mind would want THEM?? The people of Manchester? Spanish bus drivers? No…thought not!
Sorry folks. But it looks like we will be stuck with the ugly sisters for a long time yet. And all the time that we are, OUR clubs will be being bled dry by the two biggest leeches to ever (dis)grace the beautiful game.
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