The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has revised a title sponsorship deal with cinch which protects the firm’s investment into Scottish football.

Effective immediately, Rangers are no longer required to participate by providing the sponsorship inventory that the team has so far not promoted

The overall income to Scottish football is expected to remain ‘materially unchanged’ over the original five-year term of the sponsorship with the used car retailer.

Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive of the SPFL, said: “This revised package has now been approved by cinch Premiership Clubs. 

“It’s extremely good news that we have been able to work with our partners at cinch to develop an updated sponsorship package which delivers the same level of financial support to Scottish football, whilst providing additional SPFL media assets to cinch to compensate for loss of Rangers-related rights.”

First inked in June 2021, the sponsorship deal was being described as the ‘largest ever headline’ in the SPFL’s history, and clubs were required to display the business’ logo on players’ shirt sleeves and on interview backdrops.

However, it was reported in August 2021 that Rangers players did not wear Cinch branding on jerseys as they began their title defence, or select a ‘Cinch Man of the Match’, as required under the terms of the £8 million commercial arrangement. 

The 2021/22 SPFL runners-up have been involved in a long-running legal dispute with the Scottish top-flight over the matter, with club Chairman Douglas Park – who owns a car dealership firm – citing terms in the contract stating that Rangers did not have to comply with the deal. 

In the latest update, Doncaster continued: “It is testament to the strength of our relationship with cinch, and the high value they place on it, that they have agreed to move forward with us on this basis. This deal gives us further confidence that we will exceed our budget and deliver fees to Clubs of more than £27.5 million for Season 2021/22.”

Furthermore, Murdoch MacLennan, Chairman of the SPFL, expressed his view of this ‘great outcome’ for the entire game in Scotland, recognising cinch for its professionalism when handling the deal.

He added: “There is so much to celebrate in the SPFL as cinch and our clubs look forward with excitement to the launch of the 2022/23 fixture list this Friday.”

A spokesman for cinch concluded: “We welcome the evolution of our agreement with the SPFL and are proud of our continued investment into Scottish football across all four cinch SPFL leagues. We are very much looking forward to next season and to continuing the stellar growth of our business in Scotland.”

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