Fitbaw Talk: Scotland games could be returning to free to air TV

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The latest news and talking points from the world of Scottish football.

Transcript

00:00 I want to speak about the news that Scotland Games could be returning to free-to-air TV.

00:12 Obviously the situation at Via Play is ongoing, but we are seeing reports that Channel 4,

00:18 who broadcast the England games, they could be making a bid to UEFA to broadcast the Scotland

00:23 Games in the UK.

00:25 Also BBC Scotland, as you might expect, they are looking at their options to see what they

00:31 can do.

00:32 Lewis, I mean, just first of all, we just need to say, obviously this is a hugely positive

00:37 development all round.

00:39 Yes, yeah, massively.

00:41 Obviously the news about Via Play's withdrawal announcement was, it kind of came as a shock

00:47 I think to many of us, given that they kind of held the rights to the national team, I

00:52 think it was until 2028, am I right in thinking?

00:57 So, yeah, obviously a huge blow, given that Scotland in particular have been excellent

01:05 of late under Steve Clarke, really got a team worth watching again.

01:09 And a resolution was kind of needed as soon as possible, really.

01:15 I think this will come as positive news to a lot of onlookers, given that this has been

01:23 a debate for numerous length of time now about getting the Scotland games back free to air.

01:29 I don't think they should be behind a pay-wall, if you like, through Sky or Via Play, sorry,

01:36 as it was.

01:37 So, yeah, I think this is very positive news.

01:42 And hopefully a resolution can be made as soon as possible, because obviously the next

01:48 set of qualifiers coming around in a couple of months' time.

01:53 Well, we've got one coming up in a little over four weeks, I think.

01:58 Yes, yeah, exactly, the Cyprus game.

02:02 Just on that, Craig, I mean, the SFA do tend to get in the neck around this when it's not

02:08 really, they don't have a full say on it.

02:11 We know UEFA negotiates the decentralised rights.

02:14 But listen, someone somewhere needs to do a little bit more to make sure people aren't

02:20 having to pay to watch the national team right now.

02:23 Because crucially, this is, I mean, certainly in our freeze lifetime, obviously, you know,

02:28 we all maybe have memories of France '98, etc.

02:31 But in my sort of adult lifetime, this is as good as Scotland have ever been by some

02:36 way.

02:37 I think we need the younger generation of Scotland fans being able to have complete

02:41 access to watch the national team play, because you can make an argument that it's going to

02:46 be important for the development of the game in this country in the long term, I think.

02:50 What would you say?

02:51 Yeah, absolutely.

02:52 And historically, our footballers come from backgrounds where it's going to be families

03:00 who are going to struggle to pay for subscription services, especially these days.

03:04 I mean, well, how many different... if you want to watch all the football, how many different

03:08 things do you have to sign up for?

03:09 So it's getting increasingly ridiculous.

03:12 So it is good to have, like, off the back of Fireplay cutting back there.

03:17 Although I think they're still remaining, for the meantime, at least, because they kind

03:21 of have to, because thankfully, the kind of insurance has been put into the contract so

03:27 that if they do pull back, then money is still due.

03:31 So I think they're still, for the meantime, happy enough to continue with the football

03:34 because they kind of have to, I believe.

03:36 But it would be good if somebody like Channel 4 or the BBC can take it off them and fans,

03:41 because Scotland games are like national finals.

03:44 Everybody should be able to watch them.

03:46 Yeah, 100 percent.

03:49 Full agreement there.

03:50 Well, that's all we've got time for on this week's show.

03:53 Thanks very much, Lewis.

03:54 Thank you, Craig.

03:55 As ever, we'll be back next week to discuss more of the big talking points from around

03:59 Scottish football.

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