The chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee has reacted with disappointment after the UK Government rejected the Committee’s call to explore ways to ensure more members of the public in Scotland can watch major sporting events on free-to-air television.
In its report published last month, the Committee argued that public service broadcasters are often ‘priced out’ of being able to show sporting events such as international football, with the subscription services that frequently purchase the broadcast rights having “no obvious commercial incentive” to relinquish exclusivity.
“This response to our report wholly fails to reflect the strength of feeling on this issue from Scottish fans and the members of our Committee,” said Scottish Affairs Committee Chair, Pete Wishart MP. “We are therefore expecting to hold a debate in the House of Commons in June, ahead of the next round of men’s UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, to explore this issue further.
Pay platform Viaplay secured the rights to the Scottish national team’s games after governing body UEFA chose to centralise its broadcast deal. The rights to the England team matches are held by Channel 4.
The World Cup and European Championships are shared between the BBC and ITV.
