Where you can watch Scottish football this season... and why Hibs are upsetting everybody already!
Having previously shared the coverage with BT Sport for the past few years, Sky Sports have now secured exclusive broadcasting rights to show the SPFL Premiership as of this season.
It’s a lucrative five-year deal which is worth £125million in total across the full length of the contract, with Sky set to screen 48 games from the Scottish top flight. The agreement also extends to the end-of-season play-offs.
Sky and BT previously showed a combined 60 games per season, so the number of matches on the telly will be down slightly.
The key increase, however, will be the fact that clubs now receive around £30m between them each season, with that figure having previously been just over £20m.
SO WHAT’S THE VIRTUAL SEASON TICKET ALL ABOUT?
With no fans currently being able to attend matches, the SPFL have agreed a deal with Sky and the football authorities which lifts the old 3pm blackout law on a Saturday afternoon.
Clubs will now be able to show live coverage of all home matches courtesy of the Virtual Season Ticket, which has been introduced as a means of allowing clubs to generate some match-day income.
That will remain in place until such time as clubs are in a position to safely accommodate all of their season-ticket holders safely inside their stadium.
It’s effectively just a normal season ticket and will follow the normal pricing schemes set by each club throughout the Premiership. You get to see the games on telly until you can physically start going back to attending matches.
WHERE DO I WATCH IT?
The games which Sky have selected for coverage will still be shown as normal on their satellite TV stations. That won’t change.
As for all the other games, clubs will be streaming them live on their websites and through their own in-house TV channels which are available online.
OKAY, BUT A SEASON PASS IS A BIT PRICEY, WHAT ABOUT JUST PAYING TO SEE CERTAIN GAMES?
The SPFL are acutely aware that the current financial landscape around the Covid pandemic means that a lot of people simply aren’t in a position to fork out hundreds of pounds for a season ticket.
The good news, however, is that the SPFL have agreed a deal with Sky that will allow clubs to show matches on a Pay Per View basis.
GREAT… ARE ALL CLUBS DOING THAT?
No. Not yet, at least. It’s ultimately a decision which is at the discretion of each individual club.
Hibs, for example, have opted to show Saturday’s home clash with Kilmarnock on a restricted basis to their season-ticket holders — much to the anger of Killie fans.
Hibs will argue that it protects the value of their season ticket. But clubs are in no position at the moment to knock back any cash that’s offered to them.
It’s a delicate balancing act. Clubs will want to be faithful to those fans who have bought a season ticket but, at the same time, they can’t be knocking back people who want to pay — in some cases almost £20 a pop — on a game-by-game basis either.
Celtic and Rangers are yet to decide whether they’ll allow fans to watch games on a PPV basis, while Aberdeen will wait and see how the opening round of fixtures pans out before deciding what to do.
BUT WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SKY, A SEASON PASS, AND PPV?
Basically, clubs are now in a position to sell games on an individual basis provided they are not being shown live on Sky Sports.
If they are live on Sky, then you’ll either need to have a Sky TV subscription or have bought the full Virtual Season Ticket to watch it. International subscribers to the club’s TV channel will also be able to see the games on Sky.
HOW MUCH WILL THE PPV GAMES COST?
Clubs will ultimately set their own pricing schemes for PPV games. The breakdown so far is as follows: Aberdeen ................................ TBC Celtic .................... No decision yet Dundee United ................... £12.50 Hamilton ................................ TBC Hibs ......................................... TBC Kilmarnock ......................... £12.50 Livingston ................................ £20 Motherwell ............................... £12 Rangers ............... No decision yet Ross County .......................... TBC St Johnstone ...................... £17.50 St Mirren ............................. £12.50
WHAT ABOUT A HIGHLIGHTS PACKAGE?
Sky Sports will be showing highlights packages of all matches from every weekend once the action gets under way.
The good news for the more traditional among us, though, is that Sportscene will return to our screens on Saturday nights for the first time since 2002. The show will have an hour-long slot which begins at 7.30pm this Saturday.