Pulling the curtain on its sports broadcasting foray into the United Kingdom, Nordic company Viaplay has announced its impending exit from the market, as well as multiple others.
This means it will no longer provide coverage in the UK of Scotland men’s football matches, games from the Scottish League Cup or the United Rugby Championship going forward.
Their existing contract stipulates coverage of Scotland games till 2028. It is as yet unclear which platform will now take on these events, as well as the others currently held by Viaplay.
Huge news coming out of Viaplay HQ could have widespread impact
Viaplay isn't just a broadcaster but also holds title sponsorship for the Scottish League Cup. Whether or not this deal will also be scrapped remains unknown, like many factors concening this bombshell news.
According to the BBC, Viaplay has confirmed that it will continue to make payments to the SPFL for this season's matches, and that it will provide live coverage as planned of the League Cup game between Motherwell and Queen's Park this weekend.
As well as being the sponsor of the Scottish League Cup, striking a landmark deal with UEFA to show Scotland men's football games in the UK, and more, Viaplay also acquired Premier Sports along with its rights last year.
It is currently murky as to what will happen to those rights for the Scottish men's national team, the United Rugby Championship and other properties Viaplay now owns in the UK.
UEFA aware of Viaplay announcement
Viaplay's relationship with UEFA have enabled them to air historic victories by Steve Clarke's Scotland team of late, including against Spain, Norway, and Georgia.
European football's governing body stated it is keeping tabs on developments concerning Viaplay but declined further comment at present time.
However dark clouds loom over operations at Viaplay, especially after Thursday’s announcement. As well as outlining their plans to immediately withdraw from several key markets across it Europe, they also explained its intention to lay off nearly one-quarter of their staff due to the financial strain they see looming in their near future.
UEFA is expected to act as a form of mediator to help the broadcast rights to national team matches acquired by Viaplay quickly find a new home, something which other competitions and leagues will surely be looking to swiftly do also.
Scottish bosses yet to comment on Viaplay exit
The SPFL (Scottish Professional Football league) and SFA (Scottish Football Association) have not yet commented publicly about these developments involving Viaplay.
While initial superficial reactions might paint a grim picture for the Scotitsh football ecosystem amid ViaPlay pulling out, a deeper assessment suggests imminent disaster scenarios are exaggerated.
It has widely been speculated that Viaplay overvalued the rights it purchased, overspent and overextended itself by branching out from its Nordic roots and attempting to dominate markets across Europe.
While Viaplay is now expected to scale back its operations to concern those original markets it has long served - the Nordic countries and the Netherlands -, this doesn't indicate that it will fail to make promised payments to the SPFL in the short term.
In a blockbuster week for football broadcasting which saw the much anticipated launch of TNT Sports, this news of Viaplay's immediate rush from the UK and elsewhere has filled many a newspaper page and will continue to breed speculation and rumour for weeks to come.
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