Intraterrestrial Lifeform - The SPFL and the BBC

The SPFL’s highlights brought a particular highlight this week. Except it wasn’t a spectacular goal or a contentious incident. Instead, it marked the beginning of what is set to be a long running battle to get more money into the Scottish game.

Understandably buoyed by the capture of Ladbrokes as headline sponsor of all too 4 tiers of the SPFL, a battle line was drawn by Neil Doncaster who inferred that the BBC didn’t necessarily offer the SPFL a fair deal.

The BBC’s response was unsurprising and alarming at the same time. The BBC’s director of sport not only confessed that there were “inequalities” but also made clear that these inequalities were ones that were fair and justified. You can view her comments at http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/aberdeen/1320604-spfl-chairman-days-of-bbc-selling-scottish-football-short-are-over/ but they leave little ambiguity as to the feeling held by the suits at the BBC towards Scottish football - contempt.

This, of course, doesn’t impact on their coverage. While the BBC has as much a percentage of good staff to bad staff, on the whole, their coverage is broadly decent. The issues the SPFL face aren’t in Glasgow. They are in London. To them, the EPL is a worldwide phenomenon with outstanding interest, etc and the SPFL simply isn’t. To them, Gaelic Language services can be slashed forcing the Scottish Government to fund the shortfall. To them, Scots should be happy they are covering what they see nationally as a minority interest at all.

To fans of Scottish football, the BBC should ask themselves who they serve - do they serve the 60 million across the UK or just the 50 million that don’t cost that much to serve in England?

And it’s that tack that SPFL President Ralph Topping took when loading his gun and firing both barrels at the Beeb. The SPFL would no longer be happy with the crumbs off the table or for fighting for scraps. The SPFL wants what it feels belongs to it. And it feels that there is a considerable amount more money that should be going into its pockets.

While it may seem that this is a SPFL emboldened by the Ladbrokes deal, it is not. To give brief thoughts on that deal, while it is poor compared to the deals pre-2012, the fact is that the SPFL shouldn’t have gone even this long without a sponsor and having Ladbrokes is better than nothing. While it is, for obvious reasons, preferable for a sporting endeavour not to be sponsored by a company whose sole line of business is in profiting from sport being unpredictable, as a stepping stone to a larger deal with a more suitable corporate partner down the line, it is more than adequate.

Rather than taking Ladbrokes as a Tonic for confidence and directing ire at the BBC because the SPFL are feeling particularly ebullient, the fact is that it is a case of the SPFL choosing a hill to die on - that of TV money.

The battle for Scottish football to be paid what it feels it is worth will be a recurring one over the next year with both the BBC and Sky/BT contracts due to end at the end of next season. Today’s verbal volley at the BBC is as much due to it being a convenient time to put the boot in on the BBC given the amount of criticism they are receiving due to their coverage of the election and also the choice of an anti-BBC MP as Culture secretary.

The SPFL, understandably, are taking the opinion that if they can take the initiative and actually earn more money for Scottish football then some of the heat for everything else will be taken from them. The BBC, in that respect, are a soft target. Win this battle and the fight with Sky/BT may become easier.

There is, however, one significant issue. If the SPFL are unable to win this battle on the grounds that the BBC should provide equality across England and Scotland in terms of what they pay for sport because the license see obliges them to, it is difficult to see where they go. Having presence on the traditional terrestrial channels is essential to keep interest in the product. However, outside the BBC, who will pay as much for SPFL highlights, never mind the radio coverage of games, etc? STV provide sterling coverage but it would be wrong to think that their paymasters either have the funds or the willingness to match or exceed the current BBC deal. As for other broadcasters, Channel 5 have shown interest in the past but this was prior to Richard Desmond’s takeover and they show little inclination towards bidding for sport now. The BBC are able to dictate to the SPFL because they are the only show in town, a problem the EPL does not have.

This doesn’t mean that progress can’t be made. If extra funds can’t or won’t be made available, then the SPFL must make a point of getting a better timeslot for Sportscene. The 10:30pm Sunday slot is a graveyard slot that puts the SPFL out of view for the next generation. Even if we accept Sportscene as a Sunday show, swapping its timeslot for other minority programming that, in Scotland, would get fewer viewers, such as Songs of Praise would give the SPFL many more eyes on the product and give the BBC more viewers without upsetting too many people.

If the SPFL win this battle, then they will start one with Sky and BT over their valuation of SPFL rights. Unfortunately, that, and the current stooshie with the BBC fails to recognise one important thing - neither Sky, BT nor the BBC are going to be prepared to pay more money for the same product that was undersold to them two seasons ago: they simply aren’t that stupid.

However, with an aversion to risk meaning that, in spite of the obvious potential benefits that a “SPFL Network” with a radically altered broadcasting structure would bring, no clubs are sat in the background crying for a better way, the SPFL is only going to offer broadcasters more of the same. And the same product will only bring the same results.

If the SPFL have chosen this as their hill to die on, one can only hope they enjoy the view.