Not That Dark A Picture

The demise of Setanta has not dented the confidence of Falkirk chairman Martin Ritchie that another broadcaster will step in to buy the TV rights to SPL games. With time running out before the 15 August start date for the 2009-10 campaign Ritchie is sure the SPL led by executive chairman Lex Gold will find a buyer in time, although he recognises the money offered will not match Setanta's. The SPL pulled the plug on Setanta on Monday before the the Irish-based company went into administration with the loss of 200 jobs. Sky, who initially failed in a bid for the contract from 2010, and Disney-owned ESPN, who have bought the English Premier League rights vacated by Setanta, are rumoured to be interested despite there being no global demand for SPL according to former SPL chief executive Roger Mitchell.

While the 12 SPL clubs wait to discover if their income will be affected, Ritchie does not envisage any financial problems in the near future. He said: "I was encouraged by SPL executive chairman Lex Gold's comments that he believes that there will be a package in place for the start of the season. It is absolutely critical, I think that is well documented. For Falkirk, the money we get through the SPL and television is roughly 25 per cent of our total income so if we lost the whole lot, that would be a really serious problem. We just have to hope that the SPL can do the best deal possible. At the moment the budgets for this year assumes the expectation of the monies that the SPL would be providing next season. Providing what the new deal is, perhaps we would have to look at our budgets again but I'm hoping that we don't have to, we are hoping Lex Gold and his team can come up with the goods."