Scottish soccer close to new deal with Sky Sports

The Scottish Professional Football League is close to extending its deal with Sky Sports until 2029, at which point the broadcaster "would be entitled to show up to 60 Premiership matches a season" for a payment of £29.5M ($35.8M). Sky’s existing deal with the SPFL, which allows a maximum of 48 games a season, is due to expire in 2025. Under the revised terms, Sky will continue with that limit this season and next at a cost of £25.7M ($31.2M) and £26.7M ($32.4M), respectively. From the 2024-25 season, the 60-match limit triggers a £27.6M ($33.5M) payment which will increase by almost £2M ($2.4M) for the next four seasons. Sky will have the option of further 10-match SPFL bundles at the cost of around £4M ($4.9M) from 2024-25. In each of the past two seasons Sky have opted to stop well short of showing 48 live matches; with the new commitment, the network's contracted minimum would rise to 42 (London GUARDIAN, 8/11).