The deal – rumoured to be worth around 150m over five years – will see the broadcasting giant show 48 matches a season. This includes the Old Firm derbies and Premiership/Championship playoffs.
The SPFL are yet to reveal official information on how the deal is financed.
The deal also means that BT Sport won’t be able to continue their much-revered coverage. Sky has been consistently criticised for not giving the game here priority.
That said, they stumped up where BT wouldn’t.
But what does it mean for Rangers?
Old Firm will come out best with Sky Sports as Broadcasting Partner
In an Official statement the SPFL said:
“The SPFL has agreed a series of ground-breaking broadcast deals which will see major increases in revenues for the Scottish professional game.”
Basically, there will be more money than ever poured into the game through TV. Given the disparity between the nation and other countries, it’s much needed too.
Rangers and Celtic are clearly the biggest pull to the league for outsiders. Promoting both those clubs are clearly at the heart of Sky’s agenda. This is about money after all.
Fans of the other clubs are naturally frustrated given the breadth and honesty of BT’s coverage.
This tweet perhaps conveys that perfectly. But BT clearly don’t value the game here as highly as Sky Sports do.
In the image, it’s interesting that Gerrard is to the fore. His exploits with Rangers are clearly the main plotline in Scottish football at the minute. For Rangers, this ensures more exposure, more televised games and more opportunities to display the brand across the country.
Which can only be a good thing.
And whilst it also ensures everyone gets a little bit more money, Rangers fans might never have to deal with Chris Sutton on BT Sport again.
To many, that makes the deal worth its weight in gold.