THE television deal will be revolutionised. How sport is consumed as we move further into the 21st century will continue to diversify as new corporate players come into the market and a myriad viewing alternatives are explored. The trick now for those trying to make Scottish football more vibrant and marketable is to ensure they are at the forefront of the changes without further alienating an already disgruntled core support base.

It is a tricky trade-off. The more fixture dates are changed and kick-off times shifted to suit those watching from afar, the greater the sense of disenfranchisement grows among those who actually go to matches. Extrapolate that trend and football morphs from being the favoured pastime of the masses to just another television programme, with cameras beaming live action from stadia housing half-empty stands with less atmosphere than the moon.

There is no doubt that the current collective SFPL broadcasting deals with Sky Sports, BT Sport and the BBC – worth around £30m a year when everything is totted up - are selling the game short, especially in comparison with the Premier League down south who are now raking in an astonishing £1.7bn per season.

If it is unfair to measure up against England’s unfathomably popular top division – getting broadcasters to pay those kinds of eye-watering sums for Bournemouth versus Huddersfield is a remarkable trick – then a glance at some of the TV deals in place in smaller European nations shows that Scotland is again falling short.

BT Sport have been encouragingly positive and innovative in their approach to showcasing the Scottish game and would undoubtedly make a decent fist of it were they to go it alone, as has been suggested, from 2020.

Other alternatives may have come to the fore by that time, however. This week it emerged that Amazon and Twitter have been in talks with the English Football League with a view to live streaming their matches online. The hope is that the SPFL also plan to invite these corporate behemoths inside Hampden for discussions on just what they might be able to do for the Scottish game. And what the SPFL might be able to offer them in return.

Again, it remains to be seen how much of the game’s traditions they would be willing to sacrifice in return for additional investment. Could the Saturday 3pm black-out even be on the table? Banning live television coverage when the rump of league games are taking place has been the one immovable factor in an otherwise flexible and malleable fixture arrangement. That time slot, though, would undoubtedly prove hugely attractive to broadcasters, especially if England were to keep their own black-out in place.

Keeping the traditional kick-off time for live TV matches may also prove appealing to many travelling fans – no more lunchtime or teatime kick-offs – but would surely come at a heavy price in other regards. As the rain lashes down outside, staying in the pub or at home to take in the TV game rather than heading out to watch the local team in action would surely prove hugely tempting to many.

How much of a guinea pig, then, is Scottish football willing to be to attract new investors? Could the entire card be moved to a Friday night and away from the traditional Saturday? Could Sunday football become the norm? Could summer football finally be ushered in, not because of the treacherous winter conditions but because a broadcaster is willing to pay to make it happen? And at what point does the lure of extra TV money surpass the need to look after the season ticket holders and others who go to the stadium every fortnight? It is undoubtedly a delicate balancing act.

Internet streaming, rather than garlic bread as Brian Potter predicted in Phoenix Nights, is undoubtedly the future. It is a somewhat baffling prospect for those too gnarled and antiquated to imagine watching live sport for hours on anything smaller than a television but as technology improves there is little doubt the capacity for following events on smartphones, tablets and iPads will grow. When millions are already illegally streaming live matches, it makes sense to try to tap in and possibly monetise what is becoming an increasingly popular way of watching sport.

Many clubs already make television and/or radio coverage of their matches available to fans stationed outside of the UK and Ireland, while even the SFA have dipped their toes into the water by broadcasting youth matches live via You Tube.

Making dramatic changes to how we watch the game will appeal to the broadcasters but not the fans. Keeping things as they are will keep the latter group happy but not the former. Scottish football must find a way to walk that tightrope if they are to embrace the impending sports broadcasting revolution.