Scottish Premiership giants Rangers and Celtic are set for a starring role as Sky pull out all the stops ahead of “the biggest game in the history of darts”.
The broadcasting behemoth has gone all in on their “Merry Football Dartsmas” push and it will culminate with Philippe Clement and Brendan Rodgers’ side having a starring role alongside the Dundee derby before a potential darts dust-up for the ages between superstars Luke Littler and Luke Humphries on January 2. The Sky schedule makers have once again leaned on the Scottish Premiership – a league they pay £30m per-season to air – to bring the drama before the action turns to Alexandra Palace.
The visit of Celtic to Ibrox will be aired on both Sky Sports main event and Sky Sports ultra HDR with coverage kicking off an hour before the 3.00pm kick-off. That will be followed by a mouthwatering Tayside duel between United and Dundee before the darts takeover at 7.30pm.
Celtic and Rangers games in primetime, both against each other and individually, have long been a go to selection for Sky when Premier League teams have either been exclusively on Amazon or when it is an FA Cup weekend. The eternal rivals smashed viewing figure records when 1.4 million fans experienced the breathless 3-3 draw between the pair at Ibrox in April. And they will aim to do it again as the pair meet on January 2 – a Scottish holiday while those north of the border are back at work.
Then darts fans around the world will take in a night of thrilling action which could see the Littler and Humphries continue their epic rivalry and battle for a place in the Final. SPFL supremo Neil Doncaster, speaking when the latest TV deal was rubber-stamped, admitted the plan remains to push for Scottish clubs to rake in £50m from their TV deal.
He said: “We have much work to do to achieve our target of paying fees to member clubs of £50million per season – but this is an important and significant first step towards that target. Sky has an unparalleled track record of capturing the spectacle and passion of our sport and this partnership will bring Scottish football’s action-packed drama to an even wider audience.”