Rangers and Celtic partly at fault for SPFL deal amid £200m development in England – pundit
We’re delighted to welcome Tam McManus as our exclusive Rangers columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Ibrox…
Tam McManus believes issues between Rangers and Celtic aren’t helping the SPFL sell their product to broadcasters as the money gap between Scotland and England grows.
It was reported by the Daily Mail on 29 March that DAZN have made a bid to broadcast every English Football League game from the 2024/25 season onwards, with the EFL “seeking around £200million-a-year”.
The latest SPFL agreement with Sky Sports is worth a paltry £30million-a-year and will run from 2025 to 2029 [Daily Mail]. The current deal is £25million-a-year.
While there are differences between the make-up of the deal the EFL and DAZN want to what the SPFL and Sky have agreed, McManus is a firm believer that the money would be bigger if Scottish football wasn’t at war with itself all the time.
When asked if he thinks Scottish Premiership clubs are being left short-changed, McManus told Ibrox News: “Yes, I do. We’ve got a great product up here with great games and big clubs.
“There’s a new advertising and marketing team that’s been employed by the SPFL, which I think is going to solely concentrate on bringing more money in and striking better sponsorship deals.
“But what I would say is that it’s not a great look when Celtic are playing Rangers with no away fans – and vice versa. How is that a good look for sponsors when there are no away fans and in-fighting? People are moaning about sponsors and moaning about away fans being at games.
“We don’t help ourselves up here but yes, we have a great product and it needs to be marketed better.
“Hopefully this new marketing team that the SPFL have employed can do that and they can leave in-fighting at the front door.
“We need more money coming in to stop better players going to England.”
In other Rangers news, eight new signings are on the cards at Ibrox this summer with Wilson now gone.