Feeling the cinch

Rangers to profit from sponsorship deal despite no brand obligations

RANGERS will still profit from the new SPFL cinch deal despite being excluded from a revised title sponsorship contract. The Ibrox club have been in dispute with the league over the past year since the car retail company began a fiveyear deal as the main backer of Scotland’s top four divisions last June.

Rangers have refused to showcase the sponsor’s logo within their stadium or on their strips as they claimed it conflicted with a commercial agreement they already had in place with chairman Douglas Park’s firm, Park’s of Hamilton.

The new deal with cinch, effective immediately, allows that Rangers are “no longer required to participate by providing the sponsorship inventory that they have so far not provided”.

The league’s governing body says the new agreement “protects cinch’s pivotal investment into Scottish football” and that “the overall income to Scottish football is expected to remain materially unchanged over the original five-year term of the sponsorship”.

The Ibrox club, however, believe the move represents an admission on the part of the SPFL that it was wrong to stand against Rangers over the issue.

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “It’s extremely good news that we have been able to work with our partners at cinch to develop an updated sponsorship package which delivers the same level of financial support to Scottish football, whilst providing additional SPFL media assets to cinch to compensate for the loss of Rangers-related rights.

A spokesperson for Rangers responded: “This is a full vindication of our stance throughout the past season and further highlights wide-ranging concerns regarding the corporate governance of the SPFL.”