Byline: MARK AITKEN
SUPPORTERS of Scotland's leading football clubs face having to pay up to [pounds sterling]300 more each year to watch live matches on television.
Rangers and Celtic fans already stump up [pounds sterling]324 a year to view live coverage on sports channels provided by satellite and cable firms.
Now the Scottish Premier League is to negotiate a multimillion pound broadcasting deal which could force supporters to pay for each game they watch.
Already satellite and cable subscribers have to pay one-off fees of up to [pounds sterling]12 to watch high-profile boxing matches or concerts by groups such as Boy-zone and the Spice Girls.
Manchester United fans pay [pounds sterling]5 a month to watch the club's own satellite channel.
Now Rangers and Celtic fans could have to dig deep into their pockets every week to enjoy live coverage of matches.
Old Firm supporters have been promised free edited highlights under a new deal but last night they reacted angrily to the proposal to make them pay upwards of [pounds sterling]7.50 a game.
With European and cup ties taken into account, fans who stay at home would be forced to pay over [pounds sterling]300 a year on top of their satellite or cable subscriptions.
The total paid by viewers would be nearly double the [pounds sterling]350 season tickets holders pay to watch games at Ibrox or Parkhead.
The SPL revealed it is to start discussions with broadcasters over a new television deal in the summer despite two years being left on the current contract with Sky.
SPL chief executive Roger Mitchell said pay-per-view television was 'inevitable'. He said: 'There will definitely be pay-per-view games included in the new contract but we will have to wait to work out how many games will be affected.
'We have at least two clubs which are sold out of season tickets and that is a property which could easily be sold. Any game involving those two is sold out. That is a market which has been under-exploited. It is a demand which has not been filled. The structure is old fashioned.' Under Sky's current deal with the SPL, 30 matches a season are shown live on its sports channels.
But following a successful experiment involving Manchester City last season, which saw fans pay [pounds sterling]7.50 to watch sold- out away matches, the SPL is looking at showing all Rangers and Celtic games on a pay-per-view basis.
However, the move was met with anger by Rangers and Celtic fans last night.
Rangers supporter Alexander McMartin, 53, said: 'Payper-view just highlights the obsession with money that exists in the game now. It shows the greed of the SPL, satellite companies and the SPL.' Jim McLaughlin, 52, who has supported Celtic for more than 45 years, said: 'This is going too far. The television companies, the clubs and the SPL are getting greedy now.
Everything they do is for money now.' Shug Burke, of the Dundee Celtic Travel Club, added: 'The people who pay to watch games will soon get fed up having to pay all the time. The reason people do not get to matches in the first place is due to a lack of money.' Sky and NTL were both mooted by Mr Mitchell as potential providers of pay-per-view games, for which they would pay the SFL millions of pounds for the rights.
m.aitken@dailymail.co.uk
Rangers fan Alexander McMartin, 53, pays [pounds sterling]27 a month to watch the Ibrox side's matches on Sky but draws the line at
pay-per-view.
He began going to games aged nine and attended for the next 30 years. He said: 'I disagree with pay-per-view. I don't mind subscribing to cable but there is no way I will pay to watch a single game.' Celtic fan Jim McLaughlin, 52, agrees with his rival. He said: 'Watching football on the TV is my big enjoyment but I refuse to pay [pounds sterling]7.50 for a live match.
I wouldn't even watch a Celtic versus Rangers game for that price.'
THE COST OF WATCHING FOOTBALL
Rangers and Celtic fans
Current Sky Sports package [pounds sterling]324 a year
Installation including free box [pounds sterling]20
Pay-per-view matches (up to)[pounds sterling]300 a year
TOTAL [pounds sterling]624 a year
Season ticket holders [pounds sterling]350 a year
Manchester United fans
Current Sky Sports package [pounds sterling]324 a year
Installation including free box [pounds sterling]20
Club's own satellite channel [pounds sterling]60 a year
(does not include free matches
Pay-per-view matches ) (up to)[pounds sterling]300 a year
TOTAL [pounds sterling]684 a year
Season ticket holders [pounds sterling]600 a year
