Doncaster bends the SPFL rules to provide new Ibrox cash deal

Despite torpedoing the Cinch sponsorship deal Neil Doncaster has bent the SPFL rules to try and provide extra cash for the club from Ibrox.

As part of the recently signed five year broadcasting contract with Sky Sports each Premiership club can sell five home matches a season on a PPV basis with Sky entitled to screen four matches per season from each ground.

On Sunday afternoon news was leaked to the Herald/Rangers Review that Sky will be allowed to broadcast one more Ibrox match in return for the club being able to sell two more matches by PPV.

The basics on the agreement is that in return for getting an extra match shown by Sky Sports the Ibrox Tribute Act will be able to raise money by selling two matches at £9.99 to armchair bears.

Offering his version of events in the Daily Record, Keith Jackson claims:

Although it’s been thrashed out in addition to the existing £30m-a-season TV package with the SPFL we understand Rangers have not struck out on their own to make it happen in defiance of league bosses.

On the contrary, Doncaster was approached by the Ibrox club and asked to help facilitate the proposal after Philippe Clement secured his side with a place in the knockout rounds of this season’s Europa League.

That in turn unlocked the potential for Rangers to sell more pay-per-view matches to their own supporters on the basis that they will have to move at least two matches from their scheduled Saturday 3pm kick-off slots.

But, in order to do that, they required the permission of Sky as well as the approval of the SPFL board. Under the terms of the current contract, which runs until 2029, clubs are entitled to sell a maximum of five PPV matches per season to a UK audience.

But, after a series of talks with Doncaster and Rangers commercial director Karim Virani, Sky agreed to up that number to seven, so long as the club agreed to let their cameras into Ibrox in return for an extra match.

The satellite giants are restricted to selecting four games a season from every top flight ground. Sky beamed the first Old Firm game of the season live from Ibrox back in September and will be back in Govan for the second visit of Brendan Rodgers’ side in April.

They will also show Aberdeen’s trip to Ibrox next month but they will now have the option of two more games at Ibrox – taking the total to five and one more than the rest of the top flight grounds.

Clubs can offer PPV on matches that don’t kick off at 3pm on a Saturday with last months midweek match against St Johnstone shown on that basis.

Most of Sunday’s reports were eager to highlight that after Europa League ties Philippe Clement’s side will be playing on a Sunday but the next two Europa League matches (March 7 and 14) are followed by a Scottish Cup tie and away match at Dundee.

Since July 2012 and creating the secretive Five Way Agreement Doncaster has effectively been held hostage by the Tribute Act who pick and chose the rules that they wish to comply with.

Earlier this year Cinch announced that they would be cancelling their five year SPFL deal with two years still to run.

Signing up and boasting about a five year deal that can be cancelled just past the halfway point is typical of Doncaster’s negotiating skills with no replacement sponsor announced.

Last season Sky Sports showed 42 Premiership matches despite having the rights to 48 live matches.