BBC man Tom English makes ‘idiot’ claim over Rangers row with league sponsor cinch
Scottish Premiership sponsor cinch are “thrilled” about the row with Rangers because of all the free publicity it gives them, says Tom English.
The Gers are engaged in a standoff over publicity, as they believe they have no obligation to promote the used car dealers due to a conflict of interest with chairman Douglas Park’s own company Park’s Motor Group.
There had been fears that cinch may withhold money due to the Ibrox side’s refusal to promote them, with £1.6million due to be shared among all four Scottish divisions (Daily Record).
But BBC man English thinks the situation has worked in the sponsor’s favour and sees no chance they pull out of the deal, announced prior to this season.
Responding to a dispute on the matter on his Twitter account he said: “Cinch are thrilled at all the publicity they’re getting.
“Rangers’ stance, ironically, has only highlighted their brand. “Cinched it” has entered the mainstream of Scottish football.
“You’d need to be an idiot to think they’re gonna withdraw from this deal”.
All publicity is good publicity
By drawing attention to the brand the theory is that the Light Blues have done more to advertise cinch than their logos ever could have done otherwise.
White tape was used to cover them up for post-match interviews following the win at Motherwell last month, and it has put the club at odds with the league and other teams who will be counting on the sponsorship money.
If it was considered that the Bears had broken the deal that was signed by the Scottish Premiership the sponsor might argue they don’t owe the amount they had agreed too, or might pull out entirely.
But English’s point is valid in that the longer the argument goes on the longer people will be talking about cinch, so it is in their interest to stay.
But from a purely contractural point of view they may still be able to argue that the Gers side of the bargain has been broken.
The blue half of Glasgow is unlikely to win many popularity contests within Scottish football at the best of times, but this could push that into a new gear.
Whether Park reaches the same conclusion and decides to back down is debatable, as the damage is probably now done from his point of view.
Either way it looks like very little good can come of it for the chairman or the club, while the potential negatives are plenty.
In other Rangers news, Simon Jordan and Trevor Sinclair clashed on talkSPORT as they blamed different Ibrox figures for the Europa League final defeat.