Celtic and Rangers are unhappy with a television deal with Sky-ESPN approved by two-thirds of the Scottish Premier clubs which more or less halves the revenue received from Setanta. Instead of £125m over four years the SPL had to accept £65m over five, or a minimum of three. Instead of the Scottish top flight receiving £20.25m during the 2009-10 season, they will have to make do with just £13m. Admittedly, they were not in a strong bargaining position as Setanta paid over the odds in an effort to build their business.
Celtic and Rangers are unhappy with a television deal with Sky-ESPN approved by two-thirds of the Scottish Premier clubs which more or less halves the revenue received from Setanta. Instead of £125m over four years the SPL had to accept £65m over five, or a minimum of three. Instead of the Scottish top flight receiving £20.25m during the 2009-10 season, they will have to make do with just £13m. Admittedly, they were not in a strong bargaining position as Setanta paid over the odds in an effort to build their business. However, in the summer of 2008 the Old Firm had wanted to go along with a four-year deal with Sky. Moreover, they had an alternative plan for an SPL TV channel along the model recently pursued by the Dutch League. However, with four weeks to go until the start of the season, the other clubs decided there wasn’t enough time left to pursue a new option. Broadcasting revenue counts for a far more significant proportion of the budget of the likes of Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Dundee United.