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Naismith hits out at lack of TV coverage for derby duel

By BRIAN MARJORIBANKS

HEARTS boss Steven Naismith has insisted it’s ‘not good enough’ that today’s huge final Edinburgh derby of the season against Hibernian won’t be live on television. The 12.30pm kick-off at Tynecastle — which sees the capital rivals shoot it out for fourth place and guaranteed European football next season — won’t be shown because it would contravene the SPFL’s Sky deal. The Gorgie ground has already hosted the maximum of four live Sky games this season, meaning screening today’s derby was not an option. As expected, the broadcaster has elected to show Celtic v Aberdeen as the Scottish champions are presented with the 2022-23 Premiership trophy, with the Sky deal meaning the Edinburgh derby and St Mirren v Rangers in Paisley cannot even be shown live in the UK via clubs’ pay-per-view channels. Currently, Sky has the rights to show up to 48 matches but that

will rise to 60 per season from 2024 after the SPFL last year extended its deal with the broadcaster until 2029. Naismith does not believe the current television deal adequately showcases Scottish football, with only one of the four Edinburgh derbies in the league this season being screened live. The Hearts boss believes all top-flight derbies should be shown live but he is not holding his breath for that to happen. Naismith said: ‘We’ve got a TV deal and an amount of games each season don’t get covered. That’s not good enough in all honesty. ‘I think every derby across the top level should be shown on TV, whether it’s the Dundee derby, the Edinburgh derby or the Old Firm. ‘I definitely agree this game should be on telly but that’s probably a discussion for the people higher up. ‘We could sit all day talking about Scottish football. There needs to be change at the top level in terms of how decisions are made. Will it ever change? I’m doubtful, not in my lifetime.’ On Wednesday this week, the Scottish Premiership broke its previous overall attendance record — comfortably breaching the 3,639,331 who attended in the 2018-19 season — in the penultimate round of fixtures. Football in Scotland enjoys the best gates per capita in Europe and Naismith believes that proves it is a product worth showcasing. The Hearts manager said: ‘Exactly — and product does not mean the highest quality. But there is entertainment in there. ‘You watch Queens Park 3 Dundee 5 on the last day of the season in the Championship — loads of mistakes, loads of goals, a mental first half and everybody is buzzing watching it. ‘We’ve got that. We’ve not got the finances and the infrastructure to be at the top level but we can grow and be something better. ‘We have got a product here that we need to push and it’s mainly good.’

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2023-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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