Kieran Maguire issues ‘absolutely critical’ Rangers-Celtic claim after £37m windfall announced
The domestic interest that Rangers and Celtic generate is “absolutely critical” to the SPFL’s financial survival.
That is the view of finance boffin Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the league system’s latest set of accounts.
As per documents filed with Companies House on 19 October, the SPFL made a small loss of £15,000 for the year ending May 2021.
Total revenue rose by £5.5million to £36.8m over the last 12 months despite the loss of a title sponsor for the 2020-21 campaign.
The Scottish Premiership struck a deal with car retailer Cinch ahead of the current season, though that has been marred by a fallout with Rangers.
The accounts showed that there was a 4.3 per cent increase in live domestic television viewership figures.
Maguire explains that Rangers and Celtic are the league’s headline acts and indispensable when it comes to the SPFL’s ability to generate cash.
He told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: “The vast majority of the revenue of the SPFL is generated from sponsorship and broadcasting.
“Having Rangers and Celtic on television drives viewing figures. This is absolutely critical.
“However, they only make £2m-a-year in overseas TV rights. It isn’t a particularly big league overseas.
“The Glasgow clubs have fans all over the world but those fans are too spread out to affect the TV deal.
“So domestic interest is the key factor, and Rangers and Celtic are the main drivers of that.”
In other news, pundit predicts Rangers may sanction Connor Goldson exit in January after confirmed news.