Celtic and Rangers held back by ‘old-fashioned’ SPFL – Keith Wyness
Aberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted Celtic, Rangers and Scottish clubs are suffering due to “old-fashioned” SPFL executives.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Aberdeen between 2000 and 2004, had lengthy spells as the chief of Everton and Aston Villa and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – insisted the Scottish football brand should be “wrapped in tartan and shortbread” to appeal to international markets.
Scottish Premiership football is broadcast in more than 150 countries worldwide, but it is believed the broadcast deal is worth under £5million.
South of the border, the Premier League’s overseas rights bring in more than £5billion – making it comfortably the most lucrative league in the world.
Wyness slams SPFL chiefs with Celtic and Rangers suffering
Wyness hit out at SPFL executives, claiming “young thought” is needed to “repackage Scottish football”.
He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “There’s a lot of criticism about making things very Scottish – wrapping it in tartan and shortbread, they say.
“But for the international market, that’s exactly what you need to do.
“Scottish rock music, musicians, artists, films – there’s a lot which can be mixed with the football brand.
“I think that’s where we need some creative marketing.
“The people at the top have been very old-fashioned and stuck in their ways – they’ve been there too long.
“There needs to be some young thought about how you can repackage Scottish football.
“The SPFL can be the face of Scotland overseas.
“Back in my time at Aberdeen, the Chinese market wanted the teams represented as warriors because that appealed to the audience. Each team would’ve been a famous warrior from history.
“Those things have to be considered. It may not be to the liking of the purest fan, but in this marketing-led world – we have to see what we can do.
“Scottish music, comedians and culture can play a big role. It’s not mixed and marketed with football enough to give it a clear identity.”
In other news, Celtic and Southampton race to sign Bayer Leverkusen ace.
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