BBC and STV are being urged to take on the broadcast rights for Scottish football currently held by the troubled streaming service Viaplay.
The Stockholm-based company announced yesterday that it was pulling out of the UK market, ending its coverage of sports including Scottish men’s football, Scottish League Cup and URC Rugby. It also holds the rights to Scottish international football qualifiers until 2028.
Viaplay was able to hit the ground running when it acquired Premier Sports, which also held the rights to the Spanish LaLiga and UEFA Nations League matches not involving England.
Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley & Renfrewshire North, said he had written to the BBC and STV saying that there was now an opportunity to take Scottish games free-to-air. “The news that Viaplay are looking to exit the UK market, offloading their TV rights, including the Scotland men’s team, will be a body blow to those losing jobs, but is an opportunity to reassess how our national teams are broadcast.”
“My understanding is that Viaplay will be seeking to sublicense their media rights in the UK as part of their global restructuring exercise, which in Scottish terms would include the League Cup, partial Scottish Cup rights, and rights to the Scotland men’s national team.”
Scottish fans have long complained that while ITV screens England matches free-to-air, Scotland matches are only available behind a paywall.
On Thursday, Viaplay CEO Jorgen Madsen Lindemann confirmed the company’s exit from Poland, the Baltics, UK, United States and Canada to re-focus on the Nordics and Netherlands.
