Can Rangers go to war with BBC but still take its broadcast cash?
The test of how far Rangers want to take their war with the BBC will arrive on Saturday week, when Dundee United are at Ibrox
The true test of how far Rangers want to take their war with the BBC will arrive on Saturday week. If it seemed timely that the club withdrew all co-operation with the broadcaster amid a gap in home matches, that belies the apparently entrenched position of the Rangers owner, Craig Whyte.
Last weekend Whyte made it clear that any member of the Rangers staff who speaks to a BBC employee, even off the record, would be sacked. Whyte made repeated allegations of agenda and bias towards the BBC. The screening of a documentary last week about the businessman's background had the Rangers owner promising to sue. There are a lot of phoney, cranked-up battles within Scottish football but this isn't one of them.
For all that sceptics believe Whyte is using this offensive to pull a veil over Rangers' current, unquestionable off-field bother, he will find backing in the Ibrox stands. Supporters like nothing more than a public defence of their club. In this case, the BBC had already riled Rangers in recent months – and been forced to apologise – over some dubious editing of footage featuring Ally McCoist in a television news package.
Still, wild allegations by fans about deep-rooted or ingrained bias against one club should be laughed off. The Rangers support, after all, would be quick to ridicule similar claims if they emanated from the other side of Glasgow.
The specifics of this messy scenario aside, there is a wider issue relating to media rights holders' role in the Scottish Premier League. As part of its annual seven-figure, cross-platform deal, the BBC offers online and radio commentary on every SPL match. Exclusive pre- or post-match interviews with managers are guaranteed. Rangers denied the BBC entry to the general pre-match and post-match press conference around last weekend's win at Hearts. McCoist, moreover, did not carry out his routine pitchside BBC interviews at Tynecastle.
The Scottish Premier League's silence on such matters is intriguing, and hints that it wants this matter to disappear quietly. It is with the SPL, after all, that the BBC holds a contract; and from which it has sought clarification since last week. Are set penalties in place in the event that a club fails to co-operate with a rights holder? If the league has only guidelines, and not set rules, then clubs can act as they see fit.
Dundee United's visit to Ibrox next Saturday will be fascinating because a ban on live BBC commentary would seem an obvious breach of a media contract. If not now, at that stage the SPL's power over clubs would certainly be tested. Hearts are in a similar position, in refusing to speak with any external media at all. Is it reasonable that clubs claim their share of the SPL's supposedly crucial broadcast income without meeting obligations?
The true value of that investment will become clear in the not too distant future. The BBC is in discussions regarding the extension of its SPL deal, which expires at the end of the season, with clubs having an option to continue, to re-negotiate or to break the main broadcast contracts they have with Sky and ESPN at the same juncture.
It must not be ignored that the frustrations of Rangers and Celtic in relation to current commercial income mean they would be perfectly amenable to negotiating their own broadcast deals. The remainder of the SPL can legitimately argue that Old Firm matches can't take place every week.
The diminishing value of sports broadcast rights means the odds remain in favour of the SPL retaining the status quo for another two years at least. Still, the sight of little more than 4,000 people turning up for second-placed Motherwell's match at home to Kilmarnock last Saturday lunch time posed questions.
If clubs can legitimately argue that declining attendances are offsetting the monies received from broadcast deals, a move to SPL Television – as is being investigated – may not be so fanciful. However convincing bank managers that guaranteed cash should be ignored for the risk of a pay-per-view deal would take some doing, there is potential merit in the sale of a channel which has the key attraction of exclusivity. The BBC would almost certainly need to be retained as a broadcast partner, with sponsors keen on the free-to-air outlet its coverage provides.
For now, Rangers are not of a mind to retain the BBC in any capacity. It will be fascinating to see who blinks first.
Wanted to see what people think of this, certainly not the first club to ban a media outlet (Leeds and the Guardian for example) but its rare to see such an obvious case of a club biting the hand that feeds.
Thought maybe it raised questions about the relationship between TV and football clubs.
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