Once again, questions are rightly asked about the current Sky Sports broadcast deal of Scottish football that sees two of the biggest fixtures in the SPFL facing a TV blackout.
Now there is a caveat tonight with two Champions League Last 16 ties taking place. Due to Bayern Munich v PSG and Spurs v AC Milan, the harsh UEFA diktat means that no domestic games are allowed to be televised at the same time.
Rare exceptions are made, but the rule is a nonsense and totally unfair on smaller league like Scotland.
However back to those in power at the SPFL. Under the terms of the broadcast deal, Sky is able to screen 48 games per season and crucially only four games per stadium each season. In 2024, this will change to five.
With three games already featured on Sky from Easter Road this season, they have only one remaining with the decision made not to provide live coverage of Hibs v Rangers tonight. That is nothing to do with the Champions League or UEFA.
A similar situation applies to Parkhead for Celtic v Hearts which underlines the absurdity of agreeing to such a deal.
Yes, club TV channels can stream five home games live per campaign outside blackout times as Hibs are doing tonight, whilst Rangers fans outside the UK and Ireland can avail of the RTV service but that is very much a secondary offering.
What the SPFL, which essentially is the clubs, has in place is so poor, so bad. It undersells the product and short-changes the fans to a significant extent and all overseen by the seemingly untouchable, Neil Doncaster.
The terms of the new deal as agreed last September, are set to be in place until the end of the 2028/29 season.
🔜 Hibernian (A)
📺 @RangersTV subscribers outside the UK can watch tonight's match live.
👉 Subscribe to RTV: https://t.co/4hJ08vB6sV pic.twitter.com/OGCgRokVHt
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) March 8, 2023