SPFL opens Premiership TV rights tender after record club distributions

The Scottish Professional Football League opened bidding on Tuesday for live UK television rights to Premiership matches from the 2029-30 season. The league's announcement invites broadcasters to discuss how many games they would want to show, leaving the future volume of live coverage open as negotiations begin for the next rights cycle.

Under the existing arrangements, Sky Sports can screen up to 60 Premiership fixtures per season and Premier Sports up to 22. BBC Sport reported that the current Sky agreement is worth £150 million and expires at the end of 2028-29. Tuesday's announcement concerns the process for securing subsequent coverage, rather than the award of a new contract.

The League Cup is outside this tender. The SPFL said Premier Sports' separate agreement covering that competition's broadcast and sponsorship rights remains in place until at least the end of 2030-31. That distinction means the invitation to bid for Premiership coverage does not reopen the cup arrangement or change its stated timetable.

SPFL group chief executive Neil Doncaster said dependable broadcast partnerships were important to sustaining the income of the league and its clubs. He expressed confidence that broadcasters would be interested. The league also pointed to record annual attendances last season, but its announcement did not name a winning bidder or set out the value of a future agreement.

The tender follows financial results released by the SPFL on 8 October showing record group distributions to clubs of £49.6 million. That represented an increase of £7.6 million, or 18%, while total group income reached £58 million. The league identified additional broadcasting revenue, alongside growth in other commercial activities, among the factors behind the improvement.

Those distributions cover more than Premiership league-position payments: the SPFL said they also include parachute payments, cup prize money, payments to ScottishPower Women's Premier League clubs and certain television facility fees. Its strategic target is £50 million in distributions by 2029. Chairman Murdoch MacLennan said the league believed it could reach that level this season, presenting that timing as an ambition rather than a completed result.