Rangers fans who buy Premier Sports for UCL clash could get bumper extra content

IT was a last minute decision for Premier Sports to buy the rights to Rangers’ Champions League qualifying clash.

And it has led to a bizarre row between the broadcaster and a cable TV provider.

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The Light Blues are in Poland to face Dynamo Kyiv in the first leg of the tie tonight (Dynamo’s home ground in Ukraine is unable to be used due to the ongoing war with Russia).

It kicks off at 7pm in Lublin, with Gers hoping to take a positive result back to Glasgow to keep their dreams of reaching the group stage alive.

A win in this third qualifying round fixture will see Rangers face either Twente or Red Bull Salzburg in the play-off round.

If they lose to Dynamo they will go into the Europa League group stage straight away.

And if they make it through but lose in the play-off round they will still have that safety net of the Europa League – plus an extra £4m in the bank in win bonuses.

TNT hold the TV rights to the Champions League and Europa League but these only kick in once the play-off round is underway.

Which means the earlier fixtures are a broadcast free-for-all.

Premier Sports are showing the first leg but BBC Scotland will show the second leg.

And in a strange quirk, Virgin Media customers will be given a full month of Premier Sports for FREE if they sign up in time for tonight’s game.

That will give them access to action from La Liga, the Coppa Italia and more Scottish Premiership games over the next month, thanks to the deal Premier signed with the SPFL towards the end of last season.

Beyond football, punters can tune in to LIV Golf, NASCAR and NHL ice hockey.

A stand-off between Premier and Virgin means viewers will have all this extra content for free but subscribers to the likes of Sky Sports won’t.

On the game itself, Premier said: “Rangers’ UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round Leg 1 match with Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv in Lublin tomorrow evening will be live and exclusive on Premier Sports 1.

“Philippe Clement’s side will aim to get their Champions League campaign off to a positive start in the away leg. Coverage will start from 6.55pm.

“Premier Sports are offering Scottish football fans an annual subscription for just £99, enabling fans to follow their club in all three club competitions; Scottish Premiership, Premier Sports Cup and the Scottish Cup, and the rest of Premier Sports content. To avail the offer, fans can use Promocode FITBA99. Offer available on Sky and Premier Sports streaming platforms only, and available to new / returning customers only.

“Premier Sports is available in the UK on the Sky platform, channels 419 and 420, on Virgin as channels 551 and 552 and on Amazon Prime as an add on subscription. Premier Sports also has a new streaming service supported by a wide range of devices and platforms, including iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, PC and Mac, FireTV and AndroidTV, Chromecast, with dedicated Smart TV apps for Samsung & LG devices coming soon.

“In the Republic of Ireland, Premier Sports is available as part of the ‘Sports Extra’ Pack on Sky, NOW, Virgin Media and Vodafone.

“Premier Sports is also available in thousands of Pubs, Clubs & Hotels in the UK via a commercial subscription, visit https://www.premiersports.com/gb/commercial-zone-page/business-subscribers for more information.”

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Next week’s second leg is taking place at Gers’ temporary home of Hampden, with Ibrox unavailable due to the building delays that have caused havoc in Govan.

BBC Scotland will screen the game and it will be available on iPlayer too.

A statement from the BBC said: “BBC Scotland will have full live television coverage of the home leg Rangers’ tie against Dynamo Kyiv in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

“The broadcaster will show the match on Tuesday 13 August on the BBC Scotland channel and on iPlayer as Rangers set their sights on progressing to the play-off stage. There’ll also be full commentary on BBC Radio Scotland.

“Rangers have travelled to Lublin in Poland for the first leg tonight, 6 August. The Ukrainian side are currently based in the Polish city because of the ongoing hostilities with Russia.

“Sportsound will also have full match commentary on BBC Radio Scotland and there’ll be highlights on the BBC Scotland channel tonight at 10 pm.

“For the return leg on August 13, Rangers will host the Ukrainian league runners-up at Hampden Park as stadium work is being carried out at Ibrox.  Sportscene will have full live coverage on the BBC Scotland channel and on iPlayer, with the match kicking off at 7.45 pm. Sportsound will also have full match commentary on BBC Radio Scotland.

“The agreement to show the Rangers v Dynamo Kyiv match live is the latest television rights deal for European qualifiers secured by the broadcaster so far this summer.

“BBC Scotland screened live coverage from Rugby Park of the first leg, 2nd Round Qualifying of the Europa League, between Kilmarnock and Cercle Brugge, and St Mirren’s match against Valur in the home leg of the UEFA Conference League qualifying second round.”

Louise Thornton, head of commissioning for BBC Scotland, said: “The European qualifying matches during the summer proved to be big draws for our audiences last year and we’re delighted that we’ve again been able to secure live rights for several games already this season.

“There’ll be significant audience interest in our live coverage of Rangers taking on Dynamo Kyiv in the second leg as they aim for a place in the Champions League play-off stage.”

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