Scottish football set for foreign TV blackout
Coverage of exciting new season facing the axe overseas as SPFL media partners teeter on brink
SCOTTISH football is facing a global TV blackout on the eve of the most eagerly anticipated season in years.
Broadcast giants from around the world may be forced to pull the plug on plans to beam Steven Gerrard’s first league match as Rangers manager at Aberdeen on Sunday into the homes of tens of millions of viewers.
The firm who are supposed to be selling the Scottish game overseas are teetering on the brink of financial collapse.
SPFL media partners MP & Silva – who snapped up the foreign rights for Scotland’s top flight in a deal which lasts until 2023 – are battling to stay out of the hands of administrators after defaulting on payments to a number of top European bodies, including England’s Premier League.
Last week, bosses of Italy’s Serie A launched a legal suit against the firm, demanding they stump up about £35million.
The firm’s Chinese owners are facing losses of about £530million and could go under before the end of this week.
The Daily Record has learned that Qatar-based beIN Sports, have ripped up their programme schedules for the weekend after being forced to scrap plans to show the action from Pittodrie across the entire Middle East, Australasia and North Africa.
While it’s understood beIN are also in the middle of a separate ongoing financial dispute with MP & Silva, SPFL bosses have been warned that TV feeds into the US and Canada will also be at risk if the media company fail to survive.
The crisis is the latest headache for SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster.
Scottish football’s foreign rights were flogged to MP & Silva in 2014 in a deal worth little more than £2million per year to the country’s cash-starved clubs.
Doncaster is preparing to take action if MP & Silva go under. It’s understood the SPFL would then be free to negotiate with other broadcasters to sell rights packages. Doncaster is said to be monitoring the situation.
With time running out before this weekend’s big kick-off, beIN yesterday became the first TV giants to switch off their Scottish football coverage.
The station’s lead anchorman Richard Keys branded the stand-off as “catastrophic” for Scottish football.
He said: “I’m absolutely aghast by what is going on. It’s an absolute disgrace.
“For the first time in many years, Scottish football has something to go to the market with and now, just days before the start of the season, we are faced with a scenario such as this. It really is unforgiveable.
“We intended showing the match from Pittodrie ahead of our programming for the Community Shield between Manchester City and Chelsea.
“The potential audience would have been enormous and everyone was very much looking forward to it. It’s amazing that we now find ourselves having to pull the plug on it.
“It’s catastrophic for everybody. There has to be a solution or Scottish football will have missed an extraordinary opportunity to showcase the game to tens of millions. Somebody needs to sort this and double-quick.”
The SPFL remain hopeful that other broadcasters will show this weekend’s live action.
A Hampden source told us: “It’s a blow if beIN Sports are unable to show Sunday’s match but that is the result of a dispute they have with MP & Silva.
“We have been made aware of the ongoing situation at MP & Silva and have been asking for regular updates.
“It’s a developing story but we have received assurances that they will supply feeds to other broadcasters as long as they remain clear of administration.
“In the event that they do fall, the SPFL would then be able to deal directly with overseas broadcasters and negotiate deals on an individual basis.”