Doncasters open letter to the DR

[Sup3rw3ll]

"... It was more than a decade ago that a clause was first built into the then-SPL's live broadcast contracts ensuring four Old Firm games per season were available to be covered.

"Therefore, when Rangers ceased to be a member of the SPL, the broadcasters had the right to terminate the contracts immediately..."

What a stupid F'ing c***

You can argue all you want, but this agreement has not helped the game. It has killed it. We are where we are because of this. Placing the future of all clubs on the fortune of just two is a stupid idea. Yet, sadly nobody has learned the lessons and we continue down this lie that the big glasgow clubs are the way forward. The league as a whole must be invested in, and as unfashionable as it is to promote anything outside glasgow. This has to happen if more than 4 games are to be seen as interesting to the outside party. It won't fix it overnight, but the glasgow love-in will keep the ga

[Motherwellboy]

If the facts are as im seeing them then Im not seeing what Doncaster has done wrong here to be honest

The clause was there long before he arrived , the SPL then breached contract and so there could have , in theory , been no TV money.

He (along with Lawwell) then held negotiations which instead of no TV money saw A£15m a season coming in , because one of the only clubs TV (advertisers) is interested in is currently playing in unsuitable dungheaps the SPFL agreed to cover the relatively minor costs involved of rigging etc in these places where needed , in total returning less than 3% of what they are making

Is that right ?

Would you prefer we had no TV deal just like we have no league sponsor ? Hasnt the standard slipped far enough ?

[Yazz]

Surely anyone with a brain would have signed over access coverage rites to all/any Auld Firm games without the foolhardy need to specify a number.

Essentiallly this is tantamount to "Fixing" in my opinion, as thereafter Lawell et all block League reconstruction.

Assholes. If only Roland Mitchell had pulled the pug in these k untz when he had the chance

[Sup3rw3ll]

Surely anyone with a brain would have signed over access coverage rites to all/any Auld Firm games without the foolhardy need to specify a number.

Essentiallly this is tantamount to "Fixing" in my opinion, as thereafter Lawell et all block League reconstruction.

Assholes. If only Roland Mitchell had pulled the pug in these k untz when he had the chance

Spot on yazz, you got my point exactly.

[BC_Canada]

There are more than a few issues not fully answered e.g why did the TV companies get paid to ensure smaller stadia in League One had the capacity to cover The Ranger's games the media states the Rule Book required The Ranger's to pay for that and our fearless leader was unaware of that?? The nonsense that the TV companies could have walked away from the deal The Ranger's ceased to exist they were not relegated. Therefore the contract was not breached, oh and while I am on a rant if only St Mirren had allowed their club to be sold to the mysterious (Ranger's)investors then the Clydebank/Airdrie scenario the Ranger's would still be in the SPL (LoL) It's the same old shambles and now with Hibs, Hearts, and The Rangers in the Championshipp the SPFL wants to make a deal to cover more championship matches dare I think there will be less money in the Premiership or?
The more things change the more they remain the same,

[whitburndosser]

[quote="Sup3rw3ll"... It was more than a decade ago that a clause was first built into the then-SPL's live broadcast contracts ensuring four Old Firm games per season were available to be covered.

"Therefore, when Rangers ceased to be a member of the SPL, the broadcasters had the right to terminate the contracts immediately..." [/quote]

What a stupid F'ing c***

You can argue all you want, but this agreement has not helped the game. It has killed it. We are where we are because of this. Placing the future of all clubs on the fortune of just two is a stupid idea. Yet, sadly nobody has learned the lessons and we continue down this lie that the big glasgow clubs are the way forward. The league as a whole must be invested in, and as unfashionable as it is to promote anything outside glasgow. This has to happen if more than 4 games are to be seen as interesting to the outside party. It won't fix it over

[Sup3rw3ll]

Yes, my grip was with Doncaster... for the specific reason that as the C.E of the SPL and therefore overseeing the TV deal, agreements were put in place that should never have been made:

"... Essentially this is tantamount to "Fixing" in my opinion.."

i.e. making a promise to the tv companies that Rangers and Celtic will never leave the SPL and always be top six.

How can a governing body make a commitment that two teams will never be outside the top six, never mind be demoted?
Imagine if you will, a TV deal that says; "We guarantee that Aberdeen and Dundee will always be top six and therefore have 4 matches"

By fixing the focus on only two clubs. the remain 10 are basically ignored and drift further apart. i.e the league as a WHOLE was not managed. Hence Neil Doncaster is a f' twonk.

[whitburndosser]

Yes, my grip was with Doncaster... for the specific reason that as the C.E of the SPL and therefore overseeing the TV deal, agreements were put in place that should never have been made:

"... Essentially this is tantamount to "Fixing" in my opinion.."

i.e. making a promise to the tv companies that Rangers and Celtic will never leave the SPL and always be top six.

How can a governing body make a commitment that two teams will never be outside the top six, never mind be demoted?
Imagine if you will, a TV deal that says; "We guarantee that Aberdeen and Dundee will always be top six and therefore have 4 matches"

By fixing the focus on only two clubs. the remain 10 are basically ignored and drift further apart. i.e the league as a WHOLE was not managed. Hence Neil Doncaster is a f' twonk.

Clearly your not comprehending this whole 'it wasn't Doncaster who agreed that deal' scenario, therefore how can it be his

[Sup3rw3ll]

in 2011 he oversaw a new 5 year deal that kept that clause in.

[dazlhigh]

I don't know how this is going to finish up, and I certainly don't know what the current agreement says, but if I were a TV company I'd be a) casting an eye at some of the games in the Championship and b) scrutinising the terms of the 2011 agreement. I'd be very, very surprised if a way couldn't be found to ditch it. Could it be argued that the Rangers currently playing at Ibrox aren't, in fact, the Rangers they signed up to televise? If that allowed them to walk away, they could then turn round and make a deal to televise the games of the very Rangers they had just argued weren't really Rangers.
Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, but I really hope our interests are being looked after!
This is business, and business is brutal. If you were Rangers, Hearts and Hibs, what lines would you be thinking along?