SPFL opens door to ending Saturday broadcast blackout
The SPFL is inviting bids to show every Scottish Premiership match from 2029/30, including Saturday 3pm fixtures if broadcast restrictions are lifted, opening the possibility of a major expansion in live coverage.
The Scottish Professional Football League has given broadcasters the option to bid for every Premiership match in its next rights cycle, including Saturday afternoon fixtures currently covered by the television blackout.The tender allows bidders to propose coverage on the basis that the restrictions could be removed from 2029/30, although neither a change to the rules nor an agreement to televise all matches has been approved.Premier League chief executive Richard Masters previously indicated that English football was also considering its position, telling TalkSport: “We’ve got to take that decision at some point in the future about whether things are going to change. It’s not a decision for now. It’s a decision we’ve got to make before the next set of domestic processes that the EFL and the Premier League are going to do.“I’d say in about 18 months’ time we’ll come back to that decision about whether Article 48 should remain or not.”The Scottish tender creates an opportunity to test broadcasters’ appetite for substantially more live football before clubs decide which package to accept.Sky Sports can currently show up to 60 Premiership matches each season, with Premier Sports entitled to a further 22, leaving almost two-thirds of the competition’s 228 fixtures outside the live domestic allocation.The SPFL has said it is flexible about the number of games included in its next agreement, allowing broadcasters to put forward different approaches rather than prescribing a single expanded package.Any deal would require approval from eight of the Premiership’s 12 clubs, which could reject an offer involving Saturday 3pm coverage.The blackout operates under UEFA’s Article 48 framework, allowing national associations to restrict live broadcasts during designated hours to help protect attendance at matches.Where applied, the Saturday window runs from 2.45pm to 5.15pm, preventing broadcasters from showing games during the traditional kick-off period.Removing those restrictions would require action by the relevant football associations, with the SPFL unable to guarantee a change through its commercial tender alone.The timing nevertheless creates scope for discussions across the leagues, because the existing Premier League, EFL and SPFL domestic rights agreements all end after the 2028/29 season.A shared approach could allow broadcasters to bid for additional matches across several competitions, but a Scottish decision would not automatically determine the position in England or Northern Ireland.The debate centres on whether additional broadcast and streaming income can be generated without undermining the attendances the blackout was designed to protect, particularly further down the football pyramid.The offers received will give Scottish clubs a clearer indication of the value broadcasters place on wider coverage before they decide how much of their competition to make available live.