Scottish football lands new TV deal as fresh agreement brings in another competition

The SPFL revealed on Wednesday morning that broadcaster Premier Sports has extended its contract, which was due to expire in 2027, for a further four years until the summer of 2031.

In addition, the two parties have brokered a fresh agreement to screen matches from the KDM Evolution Trophy for the first time. Premier Sports will now show a minimum of four games from that competition this season, with the option to show further matches.

Welcoming the news, SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “We place great value on our long-standing partnership with Premier Sports and it’s brilliant news that we’ve agreed a major extension for the Premier Sports Cup for a further four years.

“Premier Sports continue to be a fantastic supporter of our game, with their high-quality coverage of SPFL matches, and their ongoing commitment is a real boost for Scottish football. We look forward to working together to build on the success of the Premier Sports Cup in the seasons ahead.

“We’re also happy to confirm that fans will now be able to enjoy coverage of the KDM Evolution Trophy on the channel for the first time as we welcome our new competition format. Crucially, these latest deals also underpin record prize money for clubs in the Premier Sports Cup and the KDM Evolution Trophy this season.”

Premier Sports Cup starts this weekend

Premier Sports plans to show live 25 group stage matches online from the Premier Sports Cup this season, alongside five group stage live TV broadcasts and live coverage of the latter stages of the competition. Six games will be streamed live at 3pm this Saturday, with Derek McInnes' first competitive match as Hearts manager shown live on TV at 5.15pm that day as the Tynecastle club hosts Dunfermline Athletic.

The first game of the tournament is Edinburgh City v Partick Thistle, which takes place at 7.45pm on Friday night at Meadowbank Stadium.

Premier Sports solidified their place in the Scottish broadcasting landscape last season when it signed a five-season contract last year for the broadcaster to show 20 live William Hill Premiership matches per season in the UK and Ireland.

That amount has now risen to 22 matches after the SPFL last month agreed changes to its long-term broadcast deals with Premier Sports and Sky Sports to allow two post-split, bottom six matches to be shown live on Premier Sports from season 2025/26.