Kieran Maguire tips Celtic to rescue £14m bonus as emergency talks begin
Celtic would have liked to have had the new Sky broadcast deal sewn up by now – but there is no risk that they will be left without a deal altogether.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the uncertainty surrounding negotiations with the media giants.
The SPFL had been on the verge of agreeing a new four-year deal with Sky worth £118million.
That figure would represent a total upswing of £14m on the current media package.
But, as reported by the Daily Mail on Monday (5 September), the SPFL has now been forced to hold emergency talks after the deal collapsed.
Rangers failed to respond to a resolution regarding increased matchday coverage and therefore effectively vetoed the deal.
Maguire, however, does not believe that the collapse will have any major bearing on the Hoops’ future TV revenue.
“Celtic would have wanted some form of certainty with regards to the ongoing Sky deal,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Negotiations are always difficult because the Scottish market is an unusual one because the authorities only have a relatively small number of matches that are shown.
“However, they do generate around £500,000 per match compared to £120,000 or £150,000 in a comparable market like Scandinavia.
“But because they get lower crowds per capita, they would have wanted the certainty of the money.
“But Scottish football is too interesting and too big a product not to have a TV deal. So, even if the Sky deal doesn’t work out, I’m sure there will be someone else willing to take it on.”
In other news, expert suggests Celtic could now form alliance with rivals to break into “Europe’s elite”.