More Championship matches to be shown live under new BBC deal with SPFL

The number of Scottish Championship matches shown live on terrestrial television will increase after the BBC struck a new deal with the SPFL.

Up to 30 live games a year from the country’s second-tier, an increase of ten from the previous year, can now be broadcast on the BBC Scotland channel.

The broadcaster will also have a new weekly highlights show for the best of the action from the Championship, League One and League Two.

Beginning in January, the highlights programme will be available on the BBC Sport Scotland website and app each Monday during the season, showing the goals and big moments from the weekend fixtures.

The increase to the maximum number of live televised matches, and the new highlights show, are add-ons to the current multi-platform deal between the BBC and the SPFL, which lasts up to the end of the 2028/29 season.

Louise Thornton, head of commissioning at BBC Scotland, said: “It’s great news for audiences that we’ve secured the rights to show more live matches and provide a new highlights package.

“The BBC Scotland channel has been the home of live Championship matches on Friday nights since 2018 and we’re delighted this additional agreement with the SPFL allows us to cover even more games from this exciting league.”

Neil Doncaster, SPFL group chief executive, said: “It is fantastic to expand our partnership with the BBC to show even more live William Hill Championship games.

“The league is renowned for its incredible excitement and drama and having up to 30 games broadcast live each season from the William Hill Championship is great news for Scottish football fans.

“For the past two seasons our social media team have done a terrific job producing an excellent highlights programme, available on YouTube.

“We are delighted that BBC Scotland will be taking over responsibility for that programme in the New Year. This is great news for fans wanting to catch up with all the best action from across our leagues.”