TV rights boost for Scottish FA

Highlights of Scotland games will be shown by the BBC

The Scottish Football Association has agreed a new television deal which will net them as much as £60m.

The agreement covers Scotland's home internationals and the Scottish Cup between 2010 and 2014.

The BBC has secured a highlights package for the national side and five live cup ties per season - which could rise to eight in the event of replays.

Sky Sports will have exclusive rights to broadcast all of Scotland's home international matches live.

Sky will also be entitled to broadcast up to nine live Scottish Cup matches, which would include the first pick of any replays.

The BBC deal will also include online highlights and streaming for live games.

SFA chief executive Gordon Smith said: "The Scottish FA is at the heart of the game here in Scotland. Every year we invest millions of pounds in Scotland's clubs, players and coaches.

There is a genuine sense of optimism about our future and this deal today only adds to it SFA chief executive Gordon Smith

"Thanks to this new deal we will be able to take this investment to a new level and to make sure that more people than ever before have the chance to play football.

"We have seen so much improvement in our national team in recent years.

"Our club sides have flown the flag for our country in Europe and our men's and women's national teams have risen up the world rankings.

"There is a genuine sense of optimism about our future and this deal today only adds to it."

And Smith said the extra funds would allow the SFA to invest more money in all levels of the game in Scotland.

"We've got a lot of plans in place to spend the money - and we do spend a lot of money on development," Smith explained.

"The initiatives we implement at grassroots level level to bring kids and coaches through cost a lot of money.

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"Now that this deal is in place it gives the SFA and these initiatives a level of security during the next six years."

Ewan Angus, Head of Sport, BBC Scotland, added: "We are delighted to extend our long partnership with the Scottish FA.

"This enhanced package with extra live TV games from 2010 represents an excellent deal and is great news for football fans especially in a period of significant inflation in the price of UK sports rights."