An improved TV contract is a short-term fix for the SPL. Innovation was needed to breathe life into a failing league
Perhaps only in Scotland would an improved television contract be met with scepticism. In the case of the Scottish Premier League, though, there is merit in such sentiment.
The SPL announced this week an extension to its key broadcast deal with Sky and ESPN, which will now run until the end of the 2016-17 season. No sooner had the league's chief executive, Neil Doncaster, pointed to the achievement of securing fresh terms in this economic climate than fans aired their discontent.
What this means is either the retention of the SPL's 12-team format or a move towards a 10-club setup. Both are unpopular, as Doncaster knows only too well. Yet with Sky insisting on four Old Firm games per season ? being blunt about it, that's essentially why they retain an interest in the SPL ? the possibility of the expanded division supporters crave has vanished.
The SPL's stance is understandable, if, in many ways, sad. Clubs are so desperate for television revenue that the extension of the contract in question would be widely welcomed. From Sky and ESPN's point of view, they picked up the SPL rights for relative buttons ? arguably below their proper value ? in 2009 after the collapse of Setanta. Extending the contract for a figure of �80m ? an increase of �15m over five seasons ? isn't exactly a backbreaking deal where they are concerned. Surely, nonetheless, they would prefer to be screening a product that looks healthy by virtue of large attendances.
Scottish clubs looked seriously at the prospect of a stand-alone, pay-per-view channel as an alternative. In that case, the exclusivity of coverage would have attracted subscribers but also been a potential worry for sponsors. More basically, bank managers at clubs that are so heavily in debt were never likely to gamble on an unknown income package from television when the cash from Sky and ESPN is set in stone.
Doncaster believes a move to an 18-team league would cost the SPL �20m per season. The breakdown of that is unknown, but it provides a decent counterpoint for those who are adamant more teams should be admitted. The SPL would rather decrease the top flight, thereby spreading revenues even more tightly. The problem with such a policy is that fans are being turned away, including in the First Division from where promotion is so difficult.
Doncaster may point to scenarios in other countries but in Scotland, still a football-obsessed nation, when people are choosing to debate matches from their own sofas rather than at stadiums there is an obvious problem. Dunfermline, promoted to the SPL, have closed a stand to make a saving of �20,000.
Motherwell, then second in the SPL, hosted Kilmarnock for a live television match on a recent Saturday lunchtime in front of 4,100 people. At Fir Park and elsewhere, the number of walk-up fans for games is desperately small. Many season-ticket holders, you feel, turn up through habit.
There seems little doubt than a bigger league would increase attendances, generate fresh interest and, in a football sense, permit the young players who are now catapulted into first teams because of cost restrictions a more forgiving environment in which to play.
Only when crowds decline to such a level that the television cash bestowed on SPL clubs makes up for a gate receipt shortfall may that point be recognised. Such cognisance won't be forthcoming as long as these four Old Firm matches are a prerequisite of a television contract.
Some Celtic supporters have raised eyebrows at the deal, on the basis it would seem to guarantee Rangers' place in the upper echelons of the Scottish game, despite the threat of administration if they lose its battle with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Such a point is masked under the guise of fair play, when the reality is different; an element of the Celtic following would want Rangers to suffer the stiffest punishment in football history for no other reason than spite.
Doncaster can hardly second-guess such a scenario when securing television contracts; after all, Rangers aren't the only club in the league which has a question hanging over its future. In points terms, recent seasons show ? in a sad reflection on the rest of the league ? that a 10- or even 25-point deduction for Rangers would still leave them in the top six.
That debate may arise in the future. For now, SPL clubs must show innovation, firstly with ticket prices, to attract fans back to a game that is failing to inspire. Otherwise, neither Scottish football nor its negotiating position with broadcasters will look smart in five years' time.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/nov/25/spl-tv-deal-failing-league
No comments:
Post a Comment