By Graham Barnstaple
November 21 2011

The SPL today announced an improved TV deal with Sky and ESPN securing live coverage until the end of 2017/18

Each company will continue to show 30 live games per season across theUnited Kingdom. The new agreement will run from season 2012/13 it would appear the deal has seen the money on offer improve from £65million to £80 million.

There is no doubt this is a good thing for the SPL teams who will have some additional money to look forward to in the years to come, and may put an end to the doom and gloom surrounding the financial side of the Scottish game.

This deal should also ensure a new sponsor should be easier to find as the SPL look to replace the Clydesdale Bank who will not renew their deal at the end of next season.

Having focussed on the positives there has to be some doubt cast on the role Neil Doncaster has played in all of this. For almost a year he told us the TV companies would only be interested if we changed our game.

They would only be interested if we went to a 10 team League without a split, but this has proved to be nonsense. He also said we may have to look at when the season would to start earlier etc etc.

We also managed it without any recourse to SPL TV, which I think everyone knew was never going to fly!

This man has led us up the garden path so often it is hard to understand how he has stayed in the role.

It will therefore be interesting to see what happens with any plans for reconstruction in the coming months.