Kieran Maguire: Chief sued by Rangers under fire for £150m deal
SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster is under pressure from Rangers and others over the £150million broadcasting deal.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the value of Scottish football’s broadcasting rights.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the SPFL and Sky Sports agreed in 2022 to extend their broadcasting deal until 2029 with an overall package worth £150million.
Doncaster was responsible for the deal having been in a position of power within the SPFL since 2012.
It is dwarfed by the £6.7billion broadcast deal struck by the Premier League in December.
Doncaster is also facing a lawsuit from Rangers with Herald Sport revealing that the Ibrox club have received permission from the Scottish FA to pursue legal action over their Park’s Motor Group controversy.
CEO hated by Rangers faces fury over £150m deal
Maguire explained that Scottish football is struggling to find a more lucrative TV deal as they are competing with Premier League kick-off times.
“It’s incredibly hard for a club in Scotland to break into that top two – 95 percent of the transfer fees paid last season were between the two clubs,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“It seems clubs are also now trying to get rid of the chief executive Neil Doncaster with complaints over how much the TV deal was sold for.
“But there doesn’t seem to be a broadcaster willing to offer more.
“And there’s a separate issue that the matches kick off at the same time as Premier League matches.
“Given a choice between broadcasting a Scottish match or an English match, the English match will always get higher viewing figures.“
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