Celtic set for vote on £118m Sky Sports extension as stance of clubs and timeline becomes clear

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Celtic and the rest of the Scottish Premiership clubs have been briefed on the proposed Sky Sports TV rights extension with the SPFL, The Scottish Daily Mail has reported today. [13/08 print edition, back page, page 112]

As we discussed earlier this week, The Guardian have detailed that the broadcaster is set to pay £29.5m per annum in the four years beyond the current deal, which is due to expire in 2025. The total package beyond that date is worth £118m, for the right to show 60 matches each season.

The reported terms have not been well received by many supporters across Scottish football, who feel that the Premiership is being grossly undervalued in comparison to similarly sized European leagues.

Regardless, The Scottish Daily Mail says that there is ‘widespread’ support for the proposed terms amongst the top-flight sides after a meeting last week.

It’s reported that a resolution recommending acceptance of the agreement has already been sent out to the 12 teams in the Premiership for voting on, with responses to be collected within 28 days per SPFL rules.

A majority of 11-1 will be enough to move ahead with the deal, meaning multiple dissenters will be needed to derail the talks with Sky.

The paper also reports that Rangers are ‘privately’ surprised at the reluctance to put the contract out to open tender for other broadcasters to bid on and that there are doubts about their voting intentions.

Clearly, this could be a changeable situation, as these kinds of SPFL votes often are.

Speaking personally, I’ve made it clear I’m not a fan of the extension on these terms, but ultimately, if the clubs want it to go through, it will go through.

The league should at least be exploring other options.

However, they are apparently satisfied by the security of a 7-year deal and happy to bank the cash. I expect there will be much more on this to come.

In other news, Derek McInnes praises Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou after text exchanges ahead of first meeting.