Rangers’ clash with the SPFL shows no signs of slowing as the organisation’s chairman takes aim at the Ibrox club and one of the Gers media partners report revealing details of the cinch sponsorship deal.
The Gers took aim at the SPFL and how they have marketed the Scottish game last week as Managing Director Stewart Robertson criticised the current TV deal.
Robertson believes that game is being “undersold” in Scotland by the SPFL.
Rangers have a considerable recent history of run-ins with the SPFL and pushed for an independent investigation into the organisation and the suspension of chief executive Neil Doncaster after the league season was abandoned in 2020.
The Gers never got their wish back then but there was a sizeable split amongst the 42 member clubs, with around a third of sides backing Rangers’ proposals [Sky Sports].
This bad blood continued beyond TV deals and that end-of-season vote when Rangers failed to display the SPFL’s new title partner cinch over the weekend.
The SPFL announced a new five-year partnership with online car sales company cinch ahead of the new campaign describing it as “the largest title sponsorship deal in the SPFL’s history” [SPFL].
The Scottish Sun would report that Rangers have been in talks with the SPFL regarding the deal – which the paper claims is worth £1.6m a season or £8m over five years – and “the fulfilment of rights obligations”.
Rangers failed to promote cinch branding during their 3-0 Scottish Premiership opening day victory over Livingston and never awarded a “cinch Man of the Match”.
There is some suggestion from both the Scottish Sun and the Daily Record that this concerns the fact Rangers chairman Douglas Park owns his own car sales business and this is a conflict of interest.
However, there has been no official communication regarding the nature or details of this dispute out of fear from both sides “prejudicing their legal fight”.
Reports have suggested that cinch are “furious” over Rangers’ stance with Neil Doncaster now under pressure to resolve the issue.
SPFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan has now also written to the member clubs openly criticising the approach from Rangers regarding the sponsorship deal.
“Dear all. You will all be aware that earlier this summer, the SPFL signed a title sponsorship contract with cinch,” said MacLennan [Scottish Sun].
“This contract is, by value, the biggest single sponsorship deal in the 131-year history of the league.
“In the context of what is, by any measure, a challenging economic environment, our Chief Executive and his commercial team deserve huge credit for delivering this deal.
“It is therefore very disappointing that one of our clubs has not felt able to deliver inventory to cinch.
“Your Board will be discussing this situation later this week. I will of course be in touch thereafter to give you a further update.”
The SPFL insist there is a clear breach in “the fulfilment of rights obligations.”
That same Scottish Sun report claims that Rangers believe they can snub certain terms of the five-year contract under rule I7 of the SPFL rulebook.
This states club are not “obliged to comply with this rule if to do so would result in that club being in breach of a contractual obligation entered into prior to the Commercial Contract concerned.”
However, the situation has now taken a new twist which there is no suggestion is related to Rangers’ grievances but certainly sums up why many are frustrated with the SPFL.
Official club media partner Follow, Follow claim that despite having their own commercial team, the SPFL outsourced the “heavy lifting” with an unnamed commercial outfit taking 12.5% commission.
This – according to the popular Gers fan forum’s editor Mark Dingwall – has left clubs £100k short, or £500k across five seasons.
“The SPFL cinch deal cost the clubs £100,000 in commission to middlemen,” writes Dingwall.
“A commercial outfit did all the heavy lifting not the SPFL commercial team and took 12.5% commission leaving the clubs £100,000 short.
“That’s per year by the way – so £500,000 in total.”
Given the organisation’s recent track record, even the most ardent opponent to Rangers will struggle to argue that the Ibrox club aren’t within their rights to demand better.
In the immediate aftermath of the snub, some reports even claimed that the Gers could face sanctions for standing up to the apparent incompetence of the governing body.
