Clubs granted permission to stream home games for fans

Scottish Premiership clubs have been given the green light to stream home games on a pay-perview basis.

Season-ticket holders had been the only supporters guaranteed to be able to watch the home games of their team while games are played behind closed doors or limited capacity during the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision by the Scottish Professional Football League to show individual matches follows an agreement with Sky Sports. Games shown live by the broadcaster are exempt from the arrangement.

The move will allow supporters to watch their team on their travels but a decision on any game will rest with the home club.

Dundee United have already announced that their top-flight return against St Johnstone at Tannadice on Saturday will be available for all fans to watch on a one-off basis for £12.50.

Motherwell also intend to show Fir Park encounters for £12 – their season ticket holders will also get access to streams as well as getting 19 home games from the day supporters are allowed back in grounds.

St Johnstone have set a price of £17.50 and Livingston £20 to protect the value of their season tickets, while Kilmarnock and St Mirren are both pricing their oneoff games at £12.50.

Aberdeen will review the situation after their opener against Rangers, which is being shown by Sky, and are trying to sell out their allocation of 9,000 season tickets, which is based on their estimated social-distancing capacity.

Ross County are also taking time to consider their approach while Hibernian will show some games on pay-per-view but not their season opener against Kilmarnock.

Subsequent home games against Motherwell and Aberdeen will be screened by Sky and their next Easter Road match is against Rangers, which is likely to be selected by the TV company too.

Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster said: “Season ticket income is vital to the health of Hibernian and we want to protect the value of those packages, recognising the commitment made by those who have already signed up.

“We also want to give all of our fans the chance to see the team, and we will make selected games available throughout the season.”

Rangers, Celtic and Hamilton did not make any immediate announcements like the rest of their Premiership colleagues but Accies had already decided not to sell season tickets this year.