The bosses of Scottish football are in hot water with fans.
Tired of falling further behind football south of the border, Scottish fans have been demanding an improvement for years. They won’t be impressed, therefore, to learn that sports accountant Charles Barnett has claimed the TV rights were sold for one tenth of their true value.
SEE MORE
(Image) Scotland Fans The Best In Europe When It Comes To Attending Matches
(Video) Awesome Over-The-Shoulder Volley In Scotland
(Video) Incredible Fluke Goal In Scotland
“Simple arithmetic indicates that if Sky and BT are happy to pay £1.712 billion a year for English football the comparable figure for Scotland should be £142 million (Scotland has 8.3 percent of the population of the UK). To be getting just over one tenth of that at £15m is unfair and unsustainable”, Barnett told the Daily Record.
“The hierarchy of Scottish football must start to lobby for more money. It is unlikely they will get £142million from broadcasters but even another £20million or £30million, which compared to the investment in the English Premiership is a drop in the ocean, would make an enormous difference to the game in Scotland”.
Incredibly, the £20 million cost of two live EPL games is more than Scottish sides get in a year. Barnett says Celtic and Rangers can’t survive with these figures and can forget about signing top players from England and the continent, noting that even Championship calibre players may soon be beyond Scotland’s reach.
“In the future it is likely that Scottish clubs will be buying from the lowest tier in English football. If Scottish clubs are unable to buy players from the first and second tier of English football then the game will potentially suffer in Scotland in years to come”.