SPL Talks Exclusive!

(by baz..Dec 24th 2002)

The back pages of the newspapers have been full of stories today on the talks between the twelve SPL clubs about the future of the league as it stands. Truth be told the majority of these articles are based on hearsay and conjecture and as far as we are concerned, all the fans are interested in are the facts and the truth about what is being discussed.

With this in mind killiefc.com approached Killie's CEO David Heath the other day to see if he would be willing to share with the Killie support what was happening at the sharp end of things and in an amazing show of faith, unlike his compatriots who are staying tight lipped, he explained to us exactly how the situation was as it stood...and latterly how things stand now.

Initially we were worried about the wide spread reporting of how Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts were the only three clubs willing to stand against the old firm. David explained that this was because after the initial fall out, representatives from those three clubs, and Killie, were seconded into a working party to deal with the old firm, rather than everyone having to get together all the time. After months of negotiations talks broke down and it was generally accepted that the working party had failed.

The next stage was for the SPL committee to take up the discussions and to cut a long, long story really short, those discussions failed to bear any fruit either, and that brought things round full circle again an the twelve club representatives back to the same table. This is where the press initially got the idea of only three or four clubs failing to compromise, where in reality all twelve were in it together from the start, and for the most part still are.

After such a long time has passed since the initial talks, the goal posts have moved slightly and the emphasis is not now on Television rights but instead on so called 'new media' rights. What does this entail? It's all about the rights of individual clubs to sell internet broadcasting rights to their matches independently of the SPL i.e. they would keep their own earnings and it would not be put into a pot and dealt out on a percentage basis the same way as TV money currently is. So you can see where the problems lie in that.

As far as I am aware, the old firm have conceded the majority of the points that were open to discussion and have relented to accept an 8-4 majority vote on almost everything, apart from a few crucial ones like new media. While the ten other clubs seem willing to accept that having an 11-1 majority in a few key areas is necessary, there are other issues surrounding the new media proposals that need to be clarified before everything else can be put to bed, and this why nothing has been settled yet.

Due to the heavy involvement if Aberdeen, Killie, Hibs and Hearts in the first rounds of negotiations I would dare to suggest, and this is my opinion not that of David Heath, that the reps of those clubs are more fully aware of new media and the potential minefield that it could be. And while some of the other representatives of the ten 'rebel' clubs are eager to settle as soon as possible, the four aforementioned reps want to make sure that before anything is signed, all the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed and that the rights of the ten will be protected for the foreseeable future and that there are no loopholes that could come back and bite them on the back side.

David said today: "We all want to see things settled, sooner rather than later, but there is no way we can sort things out at the moment until we have further looked into all the implications of the deal as it stands. We are not going to agree to anything just for agreements sake. Every angle needs to be covered to make sure that the interests of the ten clubs are well represented and we fully intend to do that."

So what can the SPL ten do to protect themselves from the new media revolution? That remains to be seen and that is what all the negotiations are now about. Broadband is now upon us and so are the high speed internet connections that come with it. Within five years or so virtually every home in the country could be wired up and ready to receive live broadcasts from matches any where in the world, and the only way for clubs to protect themselves financially is to get on board at the start and control it before it becomes like the TV scenario whereby the tail is now wagging the dog.

The technology is already there to control who can receive live broadcasts and who can't and rules have to be drawn up with that in mind. The bottom line really is that we have to ensure that the old firm are not allowed to broadcast their matches on a Saturday to their punters in Scotland. It's the same principle that has been applied to television broadcasting up until now but as we can see, the rules in place there are simply not effective enough and attendances still suffer due to other games being played on Sundays. That is also the case with early kick off times on a Saturday that sees fans watching in the pub and electing to stay in the warmth with a few beers rather than venture out to the match they were originally going to - and they tell us it's because they want to keep the fans out of the pubs!

It is important that the 'rebel' ten stick to their guns over the new media issue and get the best deal possible for our clubs. It is important we recognise that throwing the old firm out of the league was never a legal option and the only way we can be rid of them is if they elect to leave. But most importantly of all is that we support our club representatives at this final hurdle in light of the amount of concessions they have already forced from the old firm. Many issues such as league reconstruction and SPL TV (the cause of the whole split in the first place) can now be decided within the boundaries of the revised 8-4 voting structure, which is surely a minor victory in itself.