CELTIC FANS CAN ONLY LAUGH AS THE S*N EMBARRASSES ITSELF YET AGAIN WITH TV DEAL STORY
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
When you read the headline “Bumper New Scottish Football TV Deal” there’s a couple of natural assumptions a normal, right-headed person will make about the accompanying story.
First of all, Since it references “Scottish Football” in the Title I don't think its unreasonable to assume this is a deal with implications for all clubs, and perhaps, all competitions within Scotland.
It isn't.
Next, I think it would again be reasonable to assume that, since this is a bumper TV deal, The S*n would be only too happy to gleefully share the exact numbers or at least a rough estimate of how much this “bumper deal” is worth.
They don’t.
New League Cup TV Deal Story has No Financial Details, or Reassurances for Celtic Fans Concerns
All this “exclusive” seems to tell us is that, once again, the SPFL have taken the easiest, laziest path of least resistance in securing some deal, any deal, that will bring in a trickle of TV money.
They've extended their current, grossly undervalued deal with Premier Sports until at least 2031.
That means six more years of multiple subscriptions to follow Celtic’s matches. Six more years of kick off times being arbitrarily changed to suit other “more important leagues” and their prime-time scheduling.
Oh, but there’s a silver lining.
Remember the Challenge Cup?
That tournament for lower league clubs that nobody gave a damn about until the reanimated corpse of Rangers won it a few years ago, well we’re getting at least 4 games from that utterly scintillating spectacle of football next season live on TV too.
Such innovation, such creativity (such sarcasm from me, in case you missed it).
It really is astounding that a national newspaper can, on one hand, trumpet on about a revolutionary new TV deal that’s better than ever before, whilst giving us absolutely no meaningful information whatsoever regarding the actual finances behind the deal.
I hope The S*n at least had the wherewithal to send Premier Sports a bill for this little bit of free advertising. Because let’s not kid ourselves, that's all this is. It’s advertising fluff. It isn't journalism.
Meanwhile, our travelling support can probably look forward to more 6pm kick-offs, away to the likes of Aberdeen and Ross County, because God forbid they actually ask Brentford or Birmingham to move their game to a later kick-off instead.
Celtic fans deserve better than this. Scottish football deserves better than this. Once again, our leaders continue to throw themselves at the feet of TV companies who do not care at all about supporters or indeed about the professional image of the league.
Everyone has a point where they say “ok, I don't like this, but for the money that we’ll get for doing it, it's worth it.”
The problem is, the SPFL will not consult at all with fans as to where this bar should be set.
In short, The S*n story, by way of its own incompetent presentation, highlights the exact problem. Deals like this are cut in backrooms, no public disclosure, no consultation with fans (who are also, let’s not forget, the paying customers in this regard), and no opportunity for scrutiny at all.
The likes of Premier Sports don't pay us anywhere near enough money to justify this level of disrespect.
