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SPFL hires Murdoch MacLennan to lead it through murky TV future

ByAndrew Coppens|
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 10: Fans gather as the funeral cortege of former Glasgow Celtic and Lisbon Lion footballer Tommy Gemmell, who died last Thursday aged 73, leaves Celtic Park on March 10, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Celtic great and Lisbon Lion, who won the European Cup with Celtic and was also capped eighteen times for Scotland, died on 2 March after a prolonged illness. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 10: Fans gather as the funeral cortege of former Glasgow Celtic and Lisbon Lion footballer Tommy Gemmell, who died last Thursday aged 73, leaves Celtic Park on March 10, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Celtic great and Lisbon Lion, who won the European Cup with Celtic and was also capped eighteen times for Scotland, died on 2 March after a prolonged illness. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Scottish football is at a crossroads, there’s no two ways about it. Now we know who is going to lead the top division going forward.

Late on Tuesday night in Scotland, the SPFL announced that Murdoch MacLennan has been hired as the new chairman of the league. It’s a massive deal for how football is covered in the country and for league football in general in Scotland.

MacLennan comes to the top of the SPFL after being deputy chairman of the Telegraph Media Group.

That is going to be a key going forward in his new role. While the SPFL has a TV contract intact until 2020, the next 18 months are going to be big to see where the Scottish game is going to go.

Money rules everything in world football, and the SPFL has to find a way to navigate a very difficult TV landscape today. Domestically things are crowded, and they only get worse overseas in places like America.

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There are only so many places the Scottish game could be shown given the big contracts in place for the likes of the EPL, La Liga, the Bundesliga and other leagues. There’s also the small fact that the SPFL isn’t the most attractive product out there outside of the Celtic and Sevco fan bases in the United States.

MacLennan is a veteran of the media industry, and thus his selection could be exactly the right move. Let’s face facts, it isn’t good when one European home game can trump the prize money available for winning a league title.

It also isn’t good news when your TV contract isn’t helping the smaller clubs become more profitable or at the least…you know…MORE COMPETITIVE.

But, it appears that the board of the SPFL understand what needs to happen here. At least the SPFL is looking forward and trying to get itself to be more attractive.

It is a far cry from the SFA and their laughingstock of an organization.

One of the most important and telling aspects of MacLennan’s hire is his knowledge of the growing digital platforms and the future of media. It was mentioned as one of the keys in making this hire by SPFL chief Neil Doncaster.

“Murdoch brings with him a wealth of top-level business and media experience and has been at the cutting edge of the digital revolution as CEO and now deputy chairman of the Telegraph Media Group,” Doncaster told The Daily Record.

There is a lot to fix in the Scottish game, but the SPFL has at least stabilized the professional game in Scotland today. MacLennan’s task won’t be easy, but at least it is definable. MacLennan’s tenure will likely be defined by how he positions the league in the crowded and rapidly changing media landscape.

If he’s successful, the league will be more competitive from top to bottom. Ultimately that makes Celtic better when they take on European competition, and that is the goal for the Bhoys today.

We’ll see if MacLennan can accomplish a

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