Almost 21 years ago, Rangers and NTL made an announcment to confirm a whopping £31 million deal for the club.
The press release came to light again today in a Tweet from Follow Follow editor, Mark Dingwall, as can be seen below.
https://twitter.com/GrandmasterSuck/status/1377943806151176196
Back in 2000, Rangers were still spending big money on transfers, signing players from around the continent, chasing the European dream under Dick Advocaat but it would not last too much longer.
The statement read: “Rangers FC and NTL Inc through its wholly owned subsidiary Premium TV Limited today announced that they have entered into a partnership worth £31 million.”
“The agreement has been formed on the basis of a media partnership worth £10 million and a joint venture investment by Premium TV of up to £21 million.”
The deal would also ensure collaboration on TV, internet and e-commerce operations of Rangers, as well as giving NTL the rights to make further deals of their own on the back of the agreement.
£31 million – This is the sort of deal that would have current commercial director James Bisgrove jumping for joy – and everyone else too.
It was very much a sign of the times and the money that could be attained at that time, when Scottish football was awash with much more revenue than is the case today.
NTL was adorned on the Rangers shirt – as well as Celtic’s – as primary club sponsor.
Their logo is synonymous with the Advocaat era and the sponsorship continued into the Alex McLeish reign with their ‘Digital TV’ brand on display as Big Eck’s side lifted the treble in 2002/03.
NTL would eventually go on to be consumed by the Virgin Media brand, leading to the very prominent market position it enjoys today.
Splurge
In a staggering comparison of this income to outlays on transfer fees in the Summer of 2000, Rangers spent almost the full amount in terms of incoming players.
The likes of Peter Lovenkrands, Kenny Miller, Bert Konterman, Fernando Ricksen and Ronald de Boer all arrived between June and August of that year.
Rangers most expensive ever signing – £12m for Tore Andre Flo – was made in November 2000 taking the spending to around the £30 million mark.
If only, Steven Gerrard would be thinking…
In terms of player sales at that time, the only significant return was £3.5m from Charlton Athletic for Jonatan Johansson.
This deal could be considered one of the high tide marks of Rangers under David Murray in the late 90s/early 2000s.
Supporters groups were already sounding the alarm over the financial situation at the club at this very time and with the arrival of McLeish not too long after, a new period of austerity and cost cutting had been heralded, as a necessity.
The Murray legacy for all the pros and cons, nine in a row and everything else, has been permanently sullied by the wrecklessness and negligence of the sale of the club to disgraced venture capitalist Craig Whyte, for a nominal £1 fee in 2011.
That is a responsibility that remains with Murray, forever.
As it is, the Rangers story evolves and continues.
The club is in good health on and off the pitch at present – a Champions League return in the new season ahead will bring much sought after glamour, prestige and of course financial gains, just like it did in the heady days of 2000 with international signings from Barcelona, Chelsea and multi-million media rights deals.