Scottish Football Association Signs New $91M TV Deal With Sky, ITV

The Scottish FA has "secured a bumper new TV deal for the national team" worth up to £60M ($91M), according to Gordon Waddell of the Scotland DAILY RECORD. However, the contract with Sky and ITV to cover all of Scotland’s qualifiers between '14 and '18 "leaves the BBC in international no-man’s land." The package, the first to be negotiated centrally through UEFA, "will see Sky given exclusive rights to cover every competitive Scotland match live while STV will have the highlights packages." BBC "will be left to bid for the friendlies if they want any part of the national team" (DAILY RECORD, 6/9). In London, Iain Macfarlane reported the guaranteed cash "is a huge relief to the SFA at a time when the stock of the national game is poor and the Hampden bosses would not have been in a strong bargaining position with TV executives had they gone it alone." SFA CEO Stewart Regan said, "It's fantastic news for Scottish football and the Scottish FA" (EXPRESS, 6/9).