Scottish football fans facing a cost of watching crisis as Viaplay enters crowded TV market

How would you line up? It’s a common football fans’ question referring to the team selection for the manager, ahead of a season, campaign or game. For the armchair football fan there’s also another line-up to decide upon – the formation of at-home TV packages.

Coaches may only have injury crises but the cost of living crisis, a very real one right across the UK, is biting on families and football fans are not immune.

With Viaplay winning the rights to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s international matches and joining Sky, BT and Premier Sports as football broadcasters in the UK there’s a viewers’ selection headache looming.

By centralising the media rights sales, Uefa opened up new opportunities to previously unknown broadcasters. Now, the expanding Nordic streaming service is replacing Sky Sports on the TV gantry at Hampden from 2024.

Sky have been an exclusive broadcast partner of the Tartan Army since 2008, adding away games in 2014 as part of subscription fees which have also included domestic games as part of the package.

Now, a new player has entered the picture and the question is, will they be replacing Sky or other sports subscriptions at home - or just adding to the growing costs for households?

Right now, without leaving the couch or paying for in-house club TV, signing up for all possible live games could cost between £900 and £1000 a year – and up to £90 per month, depending on your package, internet and supplier. That’s before you factor in Viaplay.

Viaplay have been named as the broadcasters of Scotland's next World Cup qualification campaign, starting in 2024. (Picture: SNS)

SPFL and English top divisions, Champions League plus Europa and Conference League competitions and the majority of internationals are covered on BT Sport and Sky. Throw in Scottish Cup and League Cup games with a Premier Sports subscription priced between £9.99 and £12.99, Amazon’s streamed English games at £7.99 a month and the necessary annual £159 TV licence fee which includes weekly highlights and live Scottish lower league coverage on top.

Month-on-month it is a lot of money. It is also a lot of football, and can be played tactically. Savvy shoppers could capitalise on discount deals, free trials or annual passes for some packages but still, current sport subscriptions are not cheap.

Viaplay is yet to enter the UK market. It may well emerge as a fresh, welcome enhancement to Scotland’s established football coverage. We don’t know. Neither do we know pricing plans for its UK launch, expected in October, or when the deal for Scotland’s matches kicks-off in 2024, but the pressure on fans’ pockets will only continue to increase, unless someone drops out.

Laid out in purely financial terms, it’s easy to see why the Hampden Collection football heritage group argue that all national matches should be free-to-air. Now the TV decisions are being taken at UEFA’s Swiss headquarters, their chances seem even further off.

Scotland's football fans have to fork out hefty fees to watch all levels of the game on UK TV. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Money talks and in a period where petrol is £1.63 a litre, energy prices soaring and checkout totals increasing, another household bill for what is, at the heart of it, a pastime and passion is likely to force the vast majority, if not all, football fans into another selection headache. During a cost of living crisis the difficult football decisions won’t be restricted to dressing rooms as living rooms weigh up the competition for places too.