Amazon and Facebook also in talks as league executives eye record UK£40m new rights deal.

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International broadcaster Eleven Sports is set to bid for Scottish soccer’s TV rights, challenging pay-TV networks Sky and BT Sport in the process.

Alongside other broadcasters invited by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), Eleven will compete for what is said to be the biggest TV deal in Scottish soccer history, according to a report in British daily newspaper The Daily Mail. With the new competition, league executives are reportedly targeting a UK£40 million new rights deal.

Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the SPFL, has reportedly also held talks with both Amazon and Facebook over the rights deal, which clubs hope to have agreed by April 2019.

BT Sport and Sky currently pay UK£21 million each to share 60 Scottish Premier League (SPL) matches, but both have now chosen to end their collaboration.

The previous record for a television rights deal in Scotland was set a decade ago, with the now defunct Setanta Sports agreeing a yearly fee of UK£31 million.

Eleven Sports, the online streaming platform owned by Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, has made major waves in the soccer rights industry, having already acquired the rights to Italian soccer’s Serie A and Spanish top flight La Liga in the UK and Ireland.

However, the company has been embroiled in a dispute with the Scottish Football Association (SFA) after breaking an SFA rule, which prohibits games on Saturdays between 2.45pm and 5.15pm from being broadcast live in the country in order to protect match attendances in its domestic leagues.

Eleven have defied Article 48.2 of the Uefa statutes for the last two weeks – first on 29th September when it showed the La Liga clash between Spanish champions Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, which kicked off at 3.15pm. The broadcaster then aired Getafe’s game against Levante one week later.

The over-the-top (OTT) broadcaster has now reluctantly backed down in the row, though it criticised the regulation, describing it as ‘irresponsible’ and ‘from a different age.’

Despite the disagreement, a deal between the broadcaster and SPFL is still viewed as a possibility, with an Eleven insider telling The Daily Mail that the league remains “an interesting property”.

Edinburgh-based Hearts sit top of the SPL after eight games, ahead of local rivals Hibernian and reigning champions Celtic.