Scottish Football

no teams left i europe, no money in the game north of the border, celtic and rangers first team squads clearly getting weaker and weaker year on year.

where did it all go wrong?

interestingly;

the SPL was formed in 1998 and Sky signed a three year deal worth 11m per season ( shared between all the clubs )

in 2001 Sky was the only bidder and the tv revenue increased slightly to 12m per season

in 2005 Setanta Sports acquirted the SPL with a deal worth 14m per season

in 2009 Setanta Sports renewed its contract with a contract worth 125m over 4 seasons (27.5m per season), effectively doubling the money.

the same year Setanta collapsed and Sky and ESPN bought out the rights jointly to show Scottish Football for 65m over 3 seasons until the end of the 2011-12 season ( 21.75m per season ).

there are rumours that there is no alternative broadcaster to bid for TV rights for Scottish games unless Sky and ESPN opt to bid for the package independantly. at the moment the broadcasters favour extending their joint bid which would enable them to offer a significantly lower deal, and with no alternative offer likely to be on the table the future of the game in Scotland looks to be on the rocks. With a backward economy in the game in Scotland, Celtic and Rangers can no longer compete for major international players and that is becoming ever increasingly more noticeable when you look at the players they are now attracting.

only you could waste so much of your Sunday worrying about the state of Scottish football.

oh im not worried rich. there's a difference between being worried and interested! the same as there's a difference between being interested and not. i doubt anybody else is though