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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Andrew Quinn

SNP MP 'pleased' after holding 'positive' talks with broadcasters over making Scotland games free-to-air

An SNP MP has said he is "pleased" after holding "positive" talks with major broadcasters in a bid to make Scotland games free-to-air.

Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP Gavin Newlands hosted a roundtable discussion with BBC Scotland and Alba, Sky, STV, Channel 4, Viaplay and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) on Thursday.

Newlands said there was a collective commitment "to making sure Scottish football fans can have the maximum level of access to their men’s national team on TV".

He said he had come away "with a number of options" and that he will take these to the UK Government.

Newlands has been campaigning for some time to make Scotland’s international football matches free to watch in the same way England and Wales games are.

He said: “Firstly, I want to sincerely thank the broadcasters and stakeholders who attended today for their engagement and commitment to my roundtable. They had no obligation to come along but they did and they should all be applauded for that.

“Collectively there is a commitment to making sure Scottish football fans can have the maximum level of access to their men’s national team on TV – I am pleased to have come out of today’s discussion with a number of options to pursue that works for everyone.

“As England fans can watch their games on Channel 4 and Wales on S4C it is possible that Scotland games can be given similar treatment."

Unlike England and Wales, Scotland matches are shown on streaming service Viaplay.

Newlands added that he will now go to the UK Government and will "carry on pushing" until Scotland fans "can watch their team without being hit in the pocket.”

Scotland's 2-0 win over Spain was streamed on Viaplay (Getty Images)

He said: “As broadcasting is reserved I would now want to take today’s discussions to the UK government and encourage them to find a solution that can ensure Scotland fans can watch the national side.

“I want to see games available to everyone in Scotland as soon as possible and I will carry on pushing and working with all stakeholders to get to a point where fans in Scotland can watch their team without being hit in the pocket.”

The SFA announced in April last year that all matches involving the men's national side will be screened exclusively by Viaplay from 2024 to 2028.

The long-running deal with Sky Sports came to an end after Scotland's World Cup play-off loss against Ukraine in June.

The SFA effectively gave up any say on who broadcasts men's team games after it signed up to UEFA's centralised bidding process, which guarantees nations a cut of revenues.

Newlands spoke out against the Viaplay deal when it was announced last year.

Newlands criticised Douglas Ross earlier this week after he criticised Humza Yousaf for calling on the UK Government to make Scotland matches free-to-air, even though the Scots Tory leader had previously done so himself.

Ross had accused Yousaf of "trying to use Scotland's win over Spain for political gain" after the First Minister said the match wasn't free-to-air because "the UK Government failed to act".

But Ross previously asked the UK Government to act as part of a report from the Scottish Affair Committee, which he sits on.

The SFA and Viaplay have been contacted for comment.

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