The new season has only just begun and more Scottish football matches than ever have been placed behind a paywall. This doesn’t only make it nearly impossible for the average Scottish football fan to view their favorite team, it creates a complex labyrinth of subscriptions and viewing experiences.
It has almost become a study in and of itself to find where to watch which game and to manage various subscriptions. For example, take a club like Rangers FC. If you want to view the team play throughout the season you have to sign up with Discovery+ for their UEFA Europa League matches, Premier Sports for the League Cup and Scottish Cup, and Sky Sports for Premiership matches. All with slightly different functioning apps and viewing options, and all with hefty monthly fees. If a fan would sign up to all services they would have to fork out just shy of 100 gbp a month, depending on the exact chosen packages.
Perhaps it can be argued that if you would have to visit every game of your club inside the stadium it would probably set you back more. But for many clubs a season ticket for a few hundred pounds will probably be the smarter option to see their team play than to sign up to all of the different subscription paywalls.
Especially when realizing that there was a time when you could watch every game you wanted via one or two platforms for a fiver or two a month, things feel like they are getting out of control in recent years. If the trend of the past decade persists, we may soon even need to pay extra to view highlights, or just the highlights of a single team. Or why stop there? Perhaps even scorelines or match results can be put behind a paywall as well.
Let’s agree for a moment that Scottish football is best suited through paywalls by which they can generate more revenue. Why then is it that even the national team game qualifiers and friendlies are put behind a paywall? The Scottish FA – the governing body of football in Scotland – receives their key source of funding from the UK tax payer, but even to watch the Scottish national team play we have to pay for a paywall on top. It’s a monstrous offer for Scottish football fans and one that is repeated in no football nation of repute I can think of. Even within the UK itself the difference is stark. England Nations League matches and friendlies can be watched through publicly available channels from the BBC or ITV. But north across the border we have to pay extra for a subscription to view Scotland play.
Maybe I could come a long way on agreeing to the benefits of all out paywalls if this meant Scottish football was then becoming the best funded and one of the most attractive football competitions in Europe. If it would showcase some of the best players or would produce top level football, the trade off could be much more interesting. Sadly I must conclude this is not the case. If the SPFL clubs are getting a far better deal than through public broadcasting, few of it gets invested in the underlying football piramid or infrastructure, and it sure does not create much better results on the pitch.
All in all the Scottish football fan is getting a raw deal at the moment when it comes to viewing football. After already facing high football ticket prices compared to other European nations, outdated venues and difficulty to compete against European mainland teams, they also have to see as good as every top level game disappear behind a plethora of paywalls. Football became popular as a sport for the common man, but risks becoming further and further out of touch in Scotland. Luckily we still have extended Premiership highlights on BBC Scotland, let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
