If ever there was a chance to give Scottish football fans a long-awaited terrestrial TV boost, it is now.
Nordic broadcaster Viaplay, which holds the rights to screen live Scotland internationals until 2028, expects to lose £75million in 2023, shedding a quarter of its staff and reviewing its UK market.
Viaplay is also the headline sponsor of our League Cup, which is working towards the latter stages of the group sections, and last season had the coverage of Glasgow and Edinburgh’s action in the United Rugby Championship.
Viaplay insists despite its financial fears, it remains “business as usual”, but there is understandable concerns within Scottish football that it will be a repeat show of 2009 when Irish broadcasters Setanta pulled the plug, leaving a cash gap to fill.
The SFA and SPFL are not hitting panic buttons yet as payments from Viaplay have been made up front and there are thought to be no fears this season’s League Cup will be taken off the screens. On Saturday, it showed live coverage of Motherwell v Queen’s Park.
Sky Sports were beaten for the rights to show Scotland matches last year, but they might well be ready to reignite their interest, especially with Steve Clarke’s men in a strong position to qualify for next summer’s European Championships.
STV open to potential joint venture
However, there has been an argument coming from homes across the country for some time that Scotland games should be on the mainstream channels. STV and Channel 4 has been showing live England games across the UK in recent years, but Scotland fans have had to subscribe to the big-hitters for live TV coverage.
STV has thrown its hat into the ring as a potential future provider of live Scotland games, potentially in tandem with another firm.
A spokesman for STV said last week: “Like our viewers, we’d love for more Scottish matches to be available free-to-air, including on STV where this can be achieved on a commercial basis. We continue to explore different ways of bringing more Scottish football to STV viewers, including the potential of sharing of rights with other broadcasters.”
Blackout fears highlighted by MP
Although Viaplay insists there’s nothing to worry about in terms of their commitment to Scotland games, Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, understands there’s a real danger there could be a black-out and he’s written to BBC Scotland and STV to seriously consider working together to ensure worst case scenario doesn’t happen.
He told the Daily Mail: “My understanding is that Viaplay intend to sell off or sublicence their UK sports rights packages — including the deals to cover the League Cup, Scottish Cup, Scotland men’s team matches and UEFA qualifiers from other nations — as part of their global restructuring exercise.
“‘I’ve written to both BBC Scotland and STV asking them to urgently explore the options that have been opened by (Viaplay’s) news, not least because clearly there is the real possibility of a TV blackout ahead of Scotland’s next Euro qualifier in September.”
⚽️ @GavNewlandsSNP: "Viaplay’s withdrawal from the UK market opens up the possibility for free to air broadcasters like BBC and STV to take up the rights and get our boys in front of the largest audience possible as they make the journey to Euro 2024." https://t.co/NKdXUbTGPV
— The SNP (@theSNP) July 21, 2023
Shot in arm for Scottish households?
There have been calls in the past for the Scottish Government to use public money to buy the rights to Scotland internationals and ‘gift’ them to the likes of BBC Scotland and STV.
Just a few months ago, Newlands had talks with BBC Scotland, Sky, STV, Channel 4, Viaplay and the SFA with a view to finding a way to get Scotland games on a free-to-air arrangement similar to England being shown on Channel 4 and Welsh internationals screened live on S4C.
There are some sporting events which fans should expect to be able to watch for free, perhaps especially given the current cost-of-living crisis.
Scotland internationals fall into that category. The TV ‘crown jewels’ of The Olympics, Wimbledon and the World Cup remain free for all and it is time Scotland games were back on our TVs for all to view.
Very little is free, but the chance to see Scotland, with matches at Hampden now often sold-out, would be a massive shot in the arm for supporters nationwide.
