Rangers will continue to profit from the cinch SPFL sponsorship despite league chiefs striking a deal that cuts the Ibrox side out of requirements to display the car dealer’s branding.
Gers bosses have spent the last year locked in a bitter dispute with Hampden supremos over the £8million package.
The Light Blues have blanked obligations to display the second-hand motor dealership’s logos round Ibrox and on their jersey sleeves, claiming it breached an existing arrangement with club chairman Douglas Park’ s own car firm.
But Record Sport understands the new arrangement negotiated by SPFL chief exec Neil Doncaster - and backed “overwhelmingly” by top-flight clubs - which now removes the contractual obligation from Rangers to parade cinch emblems will not prevent the club from receiving their cut of sponsorship and prize money.
The SPFL insists the amount of cash going to other clubs will also remain "materially unchanged”.
The new settlement comes after a poll conducted by YouGov found the fall-out had actually sent public recognition of the company soaring.
Rangers insist the decision to exclude them from the requirements of the £1.6m-per-year deal is a “full vindication” of their opposition to the cinch tie-up.
Park even took his fight to court last year, winning a legal battle with the SFA after the SPFL asked them to arbitrate the dispute between Rangers and the league.
The judgement saw the SFA ordered to cough up for both Park's and its own legal costs.
It’s now expected that case will be rendered needless after Gers were cut loose from their obligations to display the company’s branding.
The row blew up last July when the then reigning champions walked out for their opening day clash with Livingston with their kit missing the cinch sleeve badges worn by the other 11 top-flight clubs that weekend.
It was a stance they stuck to for the remainder of the campaign.
At its most bizarre point, Gers boss Gio van Bronckhorst was even infamously forced to conduct TV interviews at Fir Park in front of a sponsor's backdrop that was covered in masking tape to hide the cinch logo.
Following the announcement, a Rangers spokesman said: “This is a full vindication of our stance throughout the past season and further highlights wide ranging concerns regarding the corporate governance of the SPFL.”
SPFL chiefs insist the new deal will protect “cinch’s pivotal investment into Scottish football”.
Doncaster added: “Under the terms of the revised cinch contract, Rangers are no longer required to participate by providing the sponsorship inventory that they have so far not provided, whilst, crucially, the overall income to Scottish football is expected to remain materially unchanged over the original five-year term of the sponsorship.
“This revised package has now been approved by cinch Premiership Clubs.
“It’s extremely good news that we have been able to work with our partners at cinch to develop an updated sponsorship package which delivers the same level of financial support to Scottish football, whilst providing additional SPFL media assets to cinch to compensate for loss of Rangers related rights.
“It is testament to the strength of our relationship with cinch, and the high value they place on it, that they have agreed to move forward with us on this basis.
“This deal gives us further confidence that we will exceed our budget and deliver fees to clubs of more than £27.5 million for Season 2021/22.”
Murdoch MacLennan, chairman of the SPFL, added: “This is a great outcome for the entire game in Scotland. Our friends at cinch have been brilliant to deal with throughout this whole process.”
A spokesman for cinch said: “We welcome the evolution of our agreement with the SPFL and are proud of our continued investment into Scottish football across all four cinch SPFL leagues. We are very much looking forward to next season and to continuing the stellar growth of our business in Scotland.”
