THE Old Firm reacted angrily last night to a new television deal agreed by the Scottish Premier League.
The five-year contract between the SPL and TV companies British Sky Broadcasting and ESPN is worth £65 million to the league's 12 member clubs.
But Celtic chairman Dr John Reid believes the deal means a possible multi-million-pound loss to Scott
ish football.
"Celtic have a responsibility to speak out for our supporters who will be deeply dissatisfied with the background to and outcome of today's SPL decision and the events leading up to it," Dr Reid said after the SPL's annual general meeting voted to accept the Sky/ESPN package. "No-one should underestimate the blow that has been inflicted on this club and Scottish football by the way in which the whole affair has been handled, and by the losses incurred."
Along with Rangers and Aberdeen, Celtic argued strongly against last year's decision by the SPL to sell broadcasting rights to Setanta rather than Sky.
With Setanta's UK operation now in administration, Dr Reid and his colleagues believe the folly of that decision is clear.
"Today, the SPL accepted a bid that is less than half the value of that offered by Sky last year," he said. "The whole SPL is now a commercial victim, in an uncompetitive TV market, in the middle of a recession, locked in for years to an income some 60 per cent lower than last year's bid. This is the direct consequence of last year's misjudgment, one that has cost us all some £70m in a sport that desperately needs the income.
"To Celtic, it means a potential loss of up to £12m over the four-year period."
Despite reports earlier this week, no alternative deal was suggested by Celtic and Rangers, who were unhappy at the lack of competition in the tendering process. Nonetheless, Dr Reid said his club had not accepted the matter was entirely closed.
Rangers chief executive Martin Bain last night said he did not believe the deal represented the true value of Scottish football.
"With Sky and ESPN now working together in a joint bid, values of potential income have halved since the Setanta deal was first signed in June 2008.
"We do not feel that the values now presented … are a fair and true reflection of the value over the length of the term of the whole contract," he said.
The new contract is worth £13m a season to the SPL, compared with the £13.625m it received in the final year of its partnership with Setanta. It is well short of the £31.25m a season the SPL was due to earn from Setanta in a four-year contract extension scheduled to begin in 2010.
The SPL clubs, however, have secured some financial stability, and league chairman Lex Gold suggested the SPL's presence on Sky Sports for the first time in eight seasons would enhance the image of Scottish football.
"Sky and ESPN are two of the biggest names in sport broadcasting and they will bring first-class production standards to the table," he said.
Sky and ESPN will each show 30 SPL games a season. The SPL has the option to end the deal after three years.
