Rangers slammed by SPFL chief MacLennan over cinch stand-off in letter to clubs

[JohnMc 2,473]

I remain a little puzzled by this.

The £100k commission is fairly standard in that industry, it sounds a lot but in terms of the £8 million figure that's being reported as the value it's not and if the SPFL agreed to use a third party again that's not unusual in that industry. 

 

Cinch are owned by British Car Auctions who also own We Buy Any Car and are being used as a vehicle (pardon the pun) to sell many of the cars they buy through 'We Buy Any Car'. There is more profit in selling directly to the consumer than to the trade, it's simple business. The established car industry isn't over the moon about this but the lines in the traditional car industry have been blurring for years now. I struggle to accept that's what our gripe is with this. Does this deal perhaps preclude us from attracting another motor brand as a shirt sponsor? Maybe, but we've a betting sponsor currently while playing in competitions sponsored by Ladbrokes, it's not new to see competitive sponsors involved. 

 

Maybe it's the value and length of the sponsorship that's at issue. It's hard to tell just now if this is good value or not. The implications of Covid on the economy are still to be felt. Certainly the feeling that the SPFL and SFA haven't sold Scottish football at its proper value to TV and sponsors is one I share, but their 'bird in the hand' argument is valid and might yet prove right.

 

There is growing political pressure to exclude betting firms from shirt sponsorship and advertising. It seems likely this will happen, and it might be Rangers are working to secure a new non-gambling shirt sponsor. Again, I would have thought the best and highest profile club in the country sporting a rival brand to cinch would have upset Cinch more than Rangers. 

 

This might simply be another attempt by Rangers to disrupt and challenge the SPFL. I suspect fans of a number of clubs don't see them as fit for purpose and this might be political expediency. Shining the media spotlight on Doncaster and the commercial deals will lead to extra pressure on him. Rangers might have taken the temperature of some other clubs too and feel they have some backing on this. Celtic, the SPFL's main backers are in chaos currently and at their weakest in years, it might be that the timing is good. 

 

 

[Scott7 5,164]

44 minutes ago, JohnMc said:

 I struggle to accept that's what our gripe is with this

Parks.

[Bluedell 5,329]

11 hours ago, the gunslinger said:

i hope our lawyers are in better form than the last few years here. 

Hopefully everyone is a bit more sensible now that King is off the scene, and we take a more reasoned approach.

[Bluedell 5,329]

1 hour ago, JohnMc said:

Maybe it's the value and length of the sponsorship that's at issue. It's hard to tell just now if this is good value or not. The implications of Covid on the economy are still to be felt. Certainly the feeling that the SPFL and SFA haven't sold Scottish football at its proper value to TV and sponsors is one I share, but their 'bird in the hand' argument is valid and might yet prove right.

 

Perhaps Rangers look at what they are able to get for their sleeve sponsorship and it's more than they are getting for the higher profile Cinch sponsorship?

[the gunslinger 3,366]

3 hours ago, JohnMc said:

I remain a little puzzled by this.

The £100k commission is fairly standard in that industry, it sounds a lot but in terms of the £8 million figure that's being reported as the value it's not and if the SPFL agreed to use a third party again that's not unusual in that industry. 

 

Cinch are owned by British Car Auctions who also own We Buy Any Car and are being used as a vehicle (pardon the pun) to sell many of the cars they buy through 'We Buy Any Car'. There is more profit in selling directly to the consumer than to the trade, it's simple business. The established car industry isn't over the moon about this but the lines in the traditional car industry have been blurring for years now. I struggle to accept that's what our gripe is with this. Does this deal perhaps preclude us from attracting another motor brand as a shirt sponsor? Maybe, but we've a betting sponsor currently while playing in competitions sponsored by Ladbrokes, it's not new to see competitive sponsors involved. 

 

Maybe it's the value and length of the sponsorship that's at issue. It's hard to tell just now if this is good value or not. The implications of Covid on the economy are still to be felt. Certainly the feeling that the SPFL and SFA haven't sold Scottish football at its proper value to TV and sponsors is one I share, but their 'bird in the hand' argument is valid and might yet prove right.

 

There is growing political pressure to exclude betting firms from shirt sponsorship and advertising. It seems likely this will happen, and it might be Rangers are working to secure a new non-gambling shirt sponsor. Again, I would have thought the best and highest profile club in the country sporting a rival brand to cinch would have upset Cinch more than Rangers. 

 

This might simply be another attempt by Rangers to disrupt and challenge the SPFL. I suspect fans of a number of clubs don't see them as fit for purpose and this might be political expediency. Shining the media spotlight on Doncaster and the commercial deals will lead to extra pressure on him. Rangers might have taken the temperature of some other clubs too and feel they have some backing on this. Celtic, the SPFL's main backers are in chaos currently and at their weakest in years, it might be that the timing is good. 

 

 

It's 100k a year for 5 years. 12.5% of the total. Oh and the issue is using a 3rd part then claiming credit for doing it yourself. 

Edited August 3, 2021 by the gunslinger

[the gunslinger 3,366]

45 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

Hopefully everyone is a bit more sensible now that King is off the scene, and we take a more reasoned approach.

this seems like a Dougie Park fight so perhaps not. Good for him 

[Franc Ergs 1,352]

 

2 hours ago, JohnMc said:

Maybe it's the value and length of the sponsorship that's at issue. It's hard to tell just now if this is good value or not. The implications of Covid on the economy are still to be felt. Certainly the feeling that the SPFL and SFA haven't sold Scottish football at its proper value to TV and sponsors is one I share, but their 'bird in the hand' argument is valid and might yet prove right.

The Ladbrokes deal back in 2015 was worth 2m per season, so i'd suggest that 1.6m per season six years later is not such good value.

 

It's all about the record breaking 8m figure for the SPFL though.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Franc Ergs

[JohnMc 2,473]

3 hours ago, Bluedell said:

Perhaps Rangers look at what they are able to get for their sleeve sponsorship and it's more than they are getting for the higher profile Cinch sponsorship?

Yes, that would make sense if it's all about the money the clubs are getting. We carried Ladbrokes name on our sleeve when they were sponsors of the league, and it seems standard practice in football to wear the name of the competition on the shirt sleeve these days.

[JohnMc 2,473]

3 hours ago, Scott7 said:

Parks.

Maybe. I'd be disappointed if that was the case. Excluding the car industry from sponsoring the league because one of our major shareholders is in competition with them isn't going to stand up to any serious scrutiny though. 

[JohnMc 2,473]

1 hour ago, Franc Ergs said:

 

The Ladbrokes deal back in 2015 was worth 2m per season, so i'd suggest that 1.6m per season six years later is not such good value.

 

It's all about the record breaking 8m figure for the SPFL though.

Yes, that's what was reported at the time so this does seem like a backward step. Signing up for 6 years is the real surprise for me, I wonder if there's a break clause in it. 

Scottish football isn't easy to sell currently and I suspect the SPFL's desperation took any strength away from their bargaining, particularly after having no sponsor at all for a season. Ultimately it's the people in control of Scottish football who've led it to this point, you wonder when other clubs are going to realise that and demand action.