Rangers will continue to struggle in Europe because of inferior broadcasting deal
Rangers have been dealt a bad hand before the UEFA Champions League even started this season due to the Scottish club’s inferior broadcasting deal compared to their counterparts in Europe.
It’s been plain to see this campaign, as Rangers sit at rock bottom of group A with three defeats from three games played, they simply can’t compete with the spending powers of Europe’s elite.
Glasgow Times journalist Matthew Lindsay has insisted that an inferior TV deal has led to the Bears not being able to spend the big bucks to compete in their latest struggle.
“Scottish sides may struggle to compete with foreign opponents from larger football nations because their inferior broadcasting deal means they are unable to spend tens of millions of pounds on new signings,” Lindsay wrote for the Glasgow Times.
He’s right, Scottish sides will struggle until they secure a better broadcasting deal and failure in Europe’s top club competition is inevitable until something is changed.
It’s been 12 years since Rangers last won a group stage game in the Uefa Champions League, a sign that they have fallen far too behind Europe’s best and something needs to change.
No value.
Rangers seem to be getting no value in their broadcasting deals, considering their popularity on a global scale compared to other teams in the league.
In the 2024/2025 campaign, a new deal with Sky Sports has been agreed upon, which will take their payments up from £25 million to £30 million.
Is this good enough? The simple answer is no, not compared to other European leagues, namely the English Premier League where a relegated side sees more broadcasting payments than Rangers or Celtic.
When you take that into account, how exactly are Rangers expected to be able to compete on the European stage? No group stage wins in the Champions League in 12 years highlights the club’s demise.
The extension with Sky only means that this debacle will be prolonged even further and the club and league have missed a trick to look for more lucrative alternatives.
The opportunities for better deals are endless, BT Sport has a joint venture with Discovery, DAZN are an emerging hotspot for sports and Amazon are striking up solid relationships with La Liga and the Premier League.
It’s a shame there is such a lack of ambition for Scottish clubs, it’s holding back Rangers in Europe and will continue to do so until a better deal is sorted.
In other Rangers news, the club now had a record-breaking striker on trial at Ibrox and he’s gone on to make headlines in the United Kingdom.