Eleven Sports to battle BT Sport and Sky for Scottish football TV rights

Eleven Sports look set to go toe-to-toe with broadcast giants BT Sport and Sky for Scottish football's TV rights.

The SPFL is inviting broadcasters to submit bids for the biggest TV deal in Scottish football history before the end of October.

BT Sport and Sky currently pay around £21 million per year to share 60 Scottish matches but now the broadcasters want to do things separately.

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Premiership bosses hope competition from newcomers Eleven Sports will see a deal of around £40 million annually, which would see clubs double their money from 2020.

BT Sport and Sky will go head to head with Eleven Sports. Picture: SNS GroupBT Sport and Sky will go head to head with Eleven Sports. Picture: SNS Group
BT Sport and Sky will go head to head with Eleven Sports. Picture: SNS Group

The previous record deal was the £31 million-a-year contract agreed with Setanta ten years ago.

The spotlight was on stremaing platform Eleven earlier this year when the company, founded by Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizziani, won the rights to screen Serie A, La Liga and the US PGA Championship in the UK and Ireland.

However, the company fell foul of the Scottish FA and its English counterpart after breaching an agreement to keep live football off TV screens between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays.

But an Eleven insider told the Daily Mail that they could still look to strike a deal with the SPFL, descriving it as an “interesting property”.

League supremo Neil Doncaster has also held talks with Amazon and Facebook.

Top flight clubs are hopeful of a new deal being in place by April 2019, when TV companies will be focused on the new Champions League broadcast agreement.