Telly broadcaster Richard Keys last night called on armchair fans to boycott Sky Sports and force the satellite giants to pay a fair price for Scottish football.
Keys spoke exclusively to Record Sport yesterday after we detailed the enormous gulf in the value of broadcast deals across the European game.
Our expose showed how our struggling clubs are having to make ends meet with one of the most paltry TV incomes anywhere on the continent. The former Sky Sports frontman says he was “astounded” by the disparity which sees the SPFL scrape by on millions less than top flights in countries such as Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Greece – never mind the billions being dished out to clubs in England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.
And he blames his old bosses for mounting what he describes as a deliberate attempt to force Scottish football, on to its knees.
Keys said: “I wouldn’t advocate people taking to the streets to make their views known but the people of Merseyside deserve enormous credit for the boycott of The Sun newspaper after they were scandalously treated by it post Hillsborough. They simply refused to buy it.
“Maybe it’s time the people of Scotland took a similar stand. Maybe they have to send a message to London they’re not prepared to put up with this. What’s the best way to do that? Stop spending 35 quid a month on a Sky subscriptions.
“Scottish football is never going to get better unless it has the wherewithal to be able to so. And that requires somebody comes and spends some money on it.
“It needs people who are prepared to invest in it and to grow it, not try to take it on the cheap.
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“It’s wrong Scottish football is at the bottom of the European league never mind the British league when it comes to TV rights.
“But what Scottish fans have to do is find a way to make those buying the rights sit up and think.”
Keys insists big broadcasters should be prepared to pay the going rate for today’s Scottish top flight, especially now Brendan Rodgers has added some stardust to the set-up at a time when the Old Firm derby is back on the top flight menu after a four-year absence.
But the SPFL is locked into a long-standing deal with Sky and BT which runs until 2020.
Keys said: “What they are paying for today bears no resemblance to what they were buying four or five years ago because of the Old Firm fixture and also the presence of Rodgers.
“He has his critics but Brendan has doubled Celtic’s crowds from 30,000 to 60,000 overnight. He’s creating a team that are making people sit up and take notice by setting records.
“Look, Scottish football is not entirely blameless for the mess it got itself into a few years ago. But the Old Firm is back and you have something of value to offer the broadcasters.
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“There should be a commitment from London for the betterment of Scottish football because everyone in Britain can benefit from a strong game up north. Just look how Liverpool benefited from having Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen.
“There should be a responsibility to help Scottish football because that’s in everyone’s interest. That’s what the broadcasters in London don’t seem to understand.”