Scottish Cup TV Rights

[Poet of the Macabre]

When the SFA or SPFL make no mention of the figures involved when writing their press releases, you can be rest assured even they don't feel the figures are worth shouting about.

All four quarter-finals being on TV is absolute shite as well. What could be a cracking day out turned into a 12:15 kick off on Premier Sports. Ew.

Edited November 12, 2018 by Poet of the Macabre

[JamesM82]

13 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

It has already been very heavily reduced... to something like £20k to £30k instead of £82.5k. If suggestions the overall deal is worth less money than before are accurate - and Sky not bidding, Premier Sports succeeding, and SFA selling 18 per season instead of 12 and only striking a deal partway through this season suggests they had certainly run into some trouble - cynics might be valid in wondering if this was already being envisaged.  It will also be interesting to see if televised clubs in R1-R3 get the full rate.


I think ties in R1 to R3 being shown is a positive move, although it'll be interesting to see what R1 ties are picked and how far out of Strathclyde they ever venture: at the moment the BBC are lucky if they even run R1 results. Certainly the preliminaries are never mentioned - normally the cup only "starts" at R2 in BBC-land. Unless the format's tweaked it will be almost entirely part-time and non-leaguers... top 4 Championship clubs currently get byes past R3... giving welcome coverage and exposure.

I think Premier Sports acquiring games is a negative: as noted the Setanta issues are concerning, it's not one of the major broadcasters, viewing figures will be lower potentially affecting sponsorship sellability.

Also having every QF and half of the Last 16 on TV and therefore not on Saturday afternoons will probably further reduce crowds which are already proving a concern. However it might actually help the crowd in the non-BBC SF as people with Sky might be more likely to attend rather than add a Premier Sports deal.

The Record is claiming that the new contract is worth 3 million a year... the old one was 14 million.

Sky must have realised that they were being diddled by the SFA, for just the Scottish Cup and a few Scotland friendlies.

Also, with that sort of revenue you have to question what the point of the deal is. They would almost be as well just selling the final and (maybe) the semis, and leave the rest off TV. If you're only talking about £50K for each tie that is shown (£25K to each team), that's only the equivalent of another few thousand on the gate (depending on price).

Edited November 13, 2018 by JamesM82

[bendan]

There's a lot of pish being talked, as if the SFA could have gone with BT or Sky, just for convenience, ignoring the fact neither seems to have bid. I suppose you could argue they should have just gone with the BBC part and dropped the rest, but the number of people pretending they are going to be forced to pay for a Premier Sports subscription is ridiculous.

[NorthernLights]

Pleased that games from the earlier rounds have been picked up in the new deal.  I'd argued before that if the BBC can provide live coverage of Prestwich Heys v Radcliffe FC in the English FA Cup then why not Auchinleck Talbot v Cove Rangers. Getting the early games on an actual TV channel is a boost, I'd have been happy with online/"red button" coverage.

Sceptical of Premier Sports part of the deal though. 

[bendan]

15 minutes ago, NorthernLights said:

Pleased that games from the earlier rounds have been picked up in the new deal.  I'd argued before that if the BBC can provide live coverage of Prestwich Heys v Radcliffe FC in the English FA Cup then why not Auchinleck Talbot v Cove Rangers. Getting the early games on an actual TV channel is a boost, I'd have been happy with online/"red button" coverage.

Sceptical of Premier Sports part of the deal though. 

I agree with this. I just hope that the BBC are obliged to provide proper highlights of R1, R2 and R3 as part of the deal.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

Premier sports will only be interested in the old firm

[Poet of the Macabre]

10 hours ago, bendan said:

the number of people pretending they are going to be forced to pay for a Premier Sports subscription is ridiculous.

If you want to watch the semi-final being exclusively shown on Premier Sports and can't go to the match, how else can you do so in your home through legal means?

[bendan]

3 minutes ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

If you want to watch the semi-final being exclusively shown on Premier Sports and can't go to the match, how else can you do so in your home through legal means?

You'd take out a subscription for one match? Go to the pub if you really need to see it live (which you don't)!

Edited November 13, 2018 by bendan

[HibeeJibee]

Premier Sports proclaim the start of their Scottish Cup coverage with a natty graphic featuring a selection of club badges...
 

... including those of Dalkeith Thistle, Bo'ness United, Tynecastle, Peebles Rovers and most bizarrely the junior clubs Clydebank, Troon, Whitletts Victoria and Hurlford Utd (in monochrome).

None of whom actually participate in the Scottish Cup. Well played.


(Before anyone starts - I appreciate that in principle Dalkeith and perhaps say Tynecastle might get licensed for next season and either Hurlford or Clydebank could qualify).

Edited November 13, 2018 by HibeeJibee

[Dindeleux]

Based on the lack of posts regarding it on here I assume the stuff I read on twitter earlier on about the contract giving a bigger amount for OF semis or finals than they would if they met at an earlier stage are not true?

Or are they true and everyone agrees it should be a bigger payment?

Or are they true and nobody cares?

[kingjoey]

9 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

Premier Sports proclaim the start of their Scottish Cup coverage with a natty graphic featuring a selection of club badges...
 

... including those of Dalkeith Thistle, Bo'ness United, Tynecastle, Peebles Rovers and most bizarrely the junior clubs Clydebank, Troon, Whitletts Victoria and Hurlford Utd (in monochrome).

None of whom actually participate in the Scottish Cup. Well played.


(Before anyone starts - I appreciate that in principle Dalkeith and perhaps say Tynecastle might get licensed for next season and either Hurlford or Clydebank could qualify).

They might in the next six years though. We complain when it’s all about Celtic and Rangers, and now we complain when they include grass roots fitba. Wha’s like us?

[bendan]

10 hours ago, Dindeleux said:

Based on the lack of posts regarding it on here I assume the stuff I read on twitter earlier on about the contract giving a bigger amount for OF semis or finals than they would if they met at an earlier stage are not true?

Or are they true and everyone agrees it should be a bigger payment?

Or are they true and nobody cares?

It's a bigger payment to the SFA, not to the teams, as far as I know. That in itself is pretty ridiculous, but if it also involved bigger payments to those teams, I can't believe it would have been passed.

[The Master]

The stuff about bigger payments in the event Celtic and Sevco reach the semi-finals will undoubtedly be bullshit made up by people who want something to complain about.

There's absolutely no way the SFA would be allowed to accept monetary (or any other) reward for certain teams reaching a certain point in a competition they have overall control in administering, from making the draws to providing the referees.

That would almost certainly prompt a police investigation, never mind a UEFA/FIFA one. 

[bendan]

1 hour ago, The Master said:

The stuff about bigger payments in the event Celtic and Sevco reach the semi-finals will undoubtedly be bullshit made up by people who want something to complain about.

There's absolutely no way the SFA would be allowed to accept monetary (or any other) reward for certain teams reaching a certain point in a competition they have overall control in administering, from making the draws to providing the referees.

That would almost certainly prompt a police investigation, never mind a UEFA/FIFA one. 

I agree that it does sound ridiculous, given the obvious conflict of interest, but the thing I read (forgot where) was so specific about the payments that it was hard to believe it was just made up. It's worth remembering that the SPL had a contract that lapsed if they didn't provide four games a season between you-know-who. It would be possible for the SFA to get an insurance policy that resolved the conflict of interest problem.

[Detournement]

15 hours ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

If you want to watch the semi-final being exclusively shown on Premier Sports and can't go to the match, how else can you do so in your home through legal means?

I've got Premier Sports player for the Pro 14 Rugby. £9.99 a month and good quality casting onto your TV.

[Poet of the Macabre]

On 13/11/2018 at 10:48, bendan said:

the number of people pretending they are going to be forced to pay for a Premier Sports subscription is ridiculous.

 

21 hours ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

If you want to watch the semi-final being exclusively shown on Premier Sports and can't go to the match, how else can you do so in your home through legal means?

 

21 hours ago, bendan said:

You'd take out a subscription for one match? Go to the pub if you really need to see it live (which you don't)!

So you don't have a solution to watching the game in your house and not having to pay a subscription then?

 

[bendan]

3 minutes ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

 

 

So you don't have a solution to watching the game in your house and not having to pay a subscription then?

 

No, I don't. It was with Sky, which needed a subscription, and it will be with Premier, which will need a subscription. Why, exactly, do all semi-finals need to be free?

[Jmothecat2]

No, I don't. It was with Sky, which needed a subscription, and it will be with Premier, which will need a subscription. Why, exactly, do all semi-finals need to be free?

A Sky subscription already includes SPFL games so for people interested in watching Scottish football on tv and being able to watch every televised game they aren't at, it isn't extra to get sky as they will already need it. This now means anyone wanting full TV coverage of Scottish football will have to subscribe to a third service.

[bendan]

4 minutes ago, Jmothecat2 said:

 

A Sky subscription already includes SPFL games so for people interested in watching Scottish football on tv and being able to watch every televised game they aren't at, it isn't extra to get sky as they will already need it. This now means anyone wanting full TV coverage of Scottish football will have to subscribe to a third service.

 

I'm struggling with the concept of *having* to watch any match that is televised. Nobody 'needs' Sky. I've always managed fine without it.

[Jmothecat2]

I'm struggling with the concept of *having* to watch any match that is televised. Nobody 'needs' Sky. I've always managed fine without it.

Nobody has to have it, but plenty of people want it. Basically to have access to the maximum amount of Scottish football on tv (something I'm sure I'm not the only person to want) we now have to pay an extra £120 a year.