For the third time in eight away matches Celtic fans will have to turn to the home club for Pay Per View when Neil Lennon’s side face Hibs on Saturday.
Over the last decade or so virtually every Celtic away match has been shown live- a Saturday 3pm away kick-off was a real rarity.
Ross County, Aberdeen or Inverness Caley Thistle tended to be lunchtime kick offs, forcing the travelling support out of bed before daybreak with bleary eyes heading north.
This season the SPFL deal is exclusive to Sky Sports- crucially it is for 22 less matches than in previous deals.
Over recent seasons Sky Sports had first call on the Glasgow derby with the remainder of the fixtures split into quarters with Sky and BT having first choice alternatively. If one station didn’t take the Celtic away match the other pounced.
Clubs can have a max of 5 of their home matches covered live, to date Hibs have had 3, no second broadcaster so 22 live games less being covered this season
— Celtic FC SLO (@CelticFCSLO) November 18, 2020
With BT out the picture Sky are being much more selective, they know that not taking this weekend’s match at Hibs won’t be exploited by a rival broadcaster. Just Hibs TV.
So far this season Sky have been twice to Celtic Park, for the opening day against Hamilton and the October Glasgow derby. They have three more matches to pick.
On Sunday, in their eighth home match of the season Sky will be at Ibrox for the visit of Aberdeen, their first trip to Steven Gerrard’s adopted home.
With their virtual Season Ticket’s Celtic fans will be able to watch their home matches all the way into the new year, the only away day is on December 26 at Hamilton with Sky Sports announcing this week that their cameras will be in place at New Douglas Park.
Saturday’s match can be bought directly from Hibs for £15.
