"MONDAY night football could become a regular fixture of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague next season as a result of the new £54.5 million television deal with Setanta Sports announced yesterday.
In the biggest TV contract ever secured by the SPL, Setanta will screen live coverage of 22 matches featuring non-Old Firm clubs in addition to the 38 live games a season it currently shows on a Sunday afternoon. It has yet to be decided when the extra matches will be scheduled but the preferred option is a Monday evening.
The existing £33 million agreement with the satellite broadcaster, struck in the summer of 2004, still had two more seasons to run but has been renegotiated to the end of the 2009-10 campaign.
It is now worth £13.625 million a year to the SPL's 12 member clubs, an increase of over £5 million a year on the initial contract...
Lex Gold, the executive chairman of the SPL, welcomed the new deal yesterday which will also lend considerable support to the league's search for a new title sponsor to replace the Bank of Scotland, which is pulling out when its contract expires at the end of next season.
"We are absolutely delighted to agree an extension to our agreement with Setanta," said Gold. "It is a superb deal for our clubs financially and allows them to plan for the future with increased confidence."
Is it such a superb deal? Do the sums. The SPL is at present getting £8.625 million a year for 38 matches, or £227,000 per match; under the new arrangements, it is getting £13.625 million for 60 matches, again £227,000 per match. Perhaps that is a good deal - how many people, for example, would want to watch Inverness Caley Thistle play Dunfermline on a Monday night? But it is not self-evidently the case, especially if the cost involves the SPL selling its soul (as well as having to listen more frequently to the inarticulate commentary from Mark Hateley).
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