The 2017–18 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017. The season began on 5 August 2017. Celtic were the defending champions. Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Rangers, Ross County and St Johnstone. The season's average attendance was 15,932, the highest level since 2006–07. On 29 April 2018, Celtic won their seventh consecutive title and 49th overall after a 5–0 win at home to Rangers. Teams The following teams have changed division since the 2016–17 season. To Premiership Promoted from Scottish Championship Hibernian From Premiership Relegated to Scottish Championship Inverness Caledonian Thistle Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Format Basic In the initial phase of the season, the 12 teams will play a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams three times. After 33 games, the league splits into two sections of six teams, with each team playing each other in that section. The league attempts to balance the fixture list so that teams in the same section play each other twice at home and twice away, but sometimes this is impossible. A total of 228 matches will be played, with 38 matches played by each team. Prize money In April 2018, the SPFL confirmed the prize money to be allocated to the league members at the conclusion of the competitions. The Premiership winners would receive £3.176 million, with a total pot of £24.5m to be distributed across the four divisions. League summary League table Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16. Source: BBC Sport Results Matches 1–22 Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away. Matches 23–33 Teams play every other team once (either at home or away). Matches 34–38 After 33 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams