BY DARREN JOHNSTONE – Capital City Press
The row over how much money Scottish football gets from the BBC has taken a fresh twist after the SNP demanded that the SPFL are handed a bigger slice of the licence fee.
The public service broadcaster only pays out £1 million a year for highlights of games north of the border, while the English football authorities rake in a staggering £68 million.
SPFL chairman Ralph Topping last month accused the BBC of ‘indefensible double standards’ after the corporations’ director of sport Barbara Slater admitted there was an ‘inequality’ between the respective deals.
With Scotland contributing 10 per cent of total licence fee revenue, the SNP have now intervened in the debate.
James Dornan, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, which covers Hampden Park, said: “The future of Scottish football is very important, and our domestic game needs a proportionate share of money in order to help build for the future.
“It is only right that if audiences in Scotland are helping to fund these major financial broadcasting rights packages, our game here is given proportional investment back.
“A football accountancy expert has argued that Scottish football is worth ten times more than the rights secured.
“Unless the issue of Scottish football clubs being short-changed is addressed, then our clubs will have their prospects undermined.
“I am calling on the football governing bodies to do all they can to address this, and to continue to ensure that young people are inspired to play the beautiful game.”
