Growth in broadcast and commercial income has helped the Scottish Professional Football League group increase payments to clubs by 18% to a record £49.6 million, bringing it close to its £50 million distribution target.
The SPFL’s latest annual accounts show total group distributions rose by £7.6 million over the year. Group income reached £58 million, while fees paid to clubs by the SPFL increased by £6 million to £41.2 million, a rise of 17%.
The group set an objective of distributing £50 million to clubs by 2029 following an independent strategic review by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group in 2021, aimed at supporting the commercial growth of Scottish football. It now believes that figure can be reached this season.
Additional broadcast income contributed to the increase, including contracts with Sky Sports and Premier Sports for live William Hill Premiership matches until 2029. An enhanced Premier Sports agreement covers both broadcasting and sponsorship of the Premier Sports Cup until at least 2031.
The SPFL also reported growth in other commercial areas. Alongside broadcast rights, its income comes from licensing, match data and sponsorship, including its title sponsorship agreement with bookmaker William Hill.
Neil Doncaster, SPFL group chief executive, said: “In an increasingly competitive international rights market, these results are testament to the enduring attraction of the SPFL.
“These are by far the strongest financial results in the SPFL’s history, with turnover and total group distributions both surpassing the records set last year, and we are determined to maintain that momentum.
“Thanks to a great deal of hard work by clubs and individuals right across the SPFL, we’ve made substantial progress towards our £50 million strategic target for club distributions.”
He also said member clubs had recorded the highest yearly attendances in the SPFL era, alongside a record number of games broadcast live.
During the financial year, HALO became the SPFL’s first official technology partner and the SPFL Trust charity became its first official community partner. KDM Group continued its title sponsorship of the KDM Evolution Trophy.
Group distributions cover more than league payments. They include fees based on clubs’ finishing positions, parachute payments, payments to ScottishPower Women’s Premier League clubs, cup prize money and facility fees for Premiership matches shown on Premier Sports.
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Murdoch MacLennan, SPFL chairman, said: “These latest accounts are extremely encouraging and a real credit to the partnerships between the small, dedicated staff at the SPFL and our member clubs.
“These record-breaking figures demonstrate Scottish football’s incredible popularity, and we believe that by working closely with the 42 SPFL clubs across all four divisions, we can deliver our aim to achieve £50m of distributions to members this season – which would be two years ahead of the ambitious target we set ourselves four years ago.”
