Viaplay Scottish football deal plunged into chaos as Nordic TV broadcaster end UK streaming services

Scottish football fans are fearing a blackout of national team matches being broadcast after Viaplay pulled out of UK sport coverage as part of sweeping new cost-effective changes that could severely impact our game.

The Nordic broadcaster are the current sponsors of the League Cup and show the competition exclusively live - Motherwell v Queen’s Park is due to be broadcast on Saturday. The company also hold a deal to show Scotland matches until 2028.

According to the Daily Record, Viaplay will continue to show League Cup matches on their streaming service as they attempt to flog their UK business or partner up with another company. However, the future of showing international matches on TV remains a major question mark with Viaplay’s deal done centrally with UEFA - a fear worsened by the current fortune of Steve Clarke and his Scotland side as they bid to qualify for next year’s European Championships in Germany.

Rumours of such ruthless measures have been circulating within Scottish football after it emerged that Viaplay was carrying out a strategic review of its products after hitting financial difficulties.

It was revealed that SPFL bosses were assured of their deal having been paid in full for next season, with legal guarantees for future funding in a rights package due to run until 2027. However, the Scandinavian broadcaster has confirmed it will end ALL broadcasting in Britain, the USA and Canada as 25% of staff are laid off.

Viaplay CEO Jorgen Madsen Lindemann said: “We are today announcing a new strategy and plan, which includes, but is not limited to, focusing on our core Nordic, Netherlands and Viaplay Select operations (which make available a wide range of Viaplay series, films and documentaries through partners around the world); implementing a new operational model; downsizing, partnering or exiting our other international markets; rightsizing and pricing our product offering in the Nordics; undertaking a major cost reduction program; and conducting an immediate strategic review of the entire business to consider all options, including content sublicensing, asset disposals, equity injections or the sale of the whole group.”