Betfred backs new-look Scottish League Cup

UK bookmaker Betfred has agreed a deal with the Scottish Professional Football League to become title sponsor of its League Cup knockout competition, which will operate under a new format from the 2016-17 season.

Betfred has agreed a three-year deal with the SPFL covering the 2016-17 to 2018-19 campaigns. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, although UK public-service broadcaster the BBC said the deal would be worth £1m (€1.3m/$1.4m) over three years. The competition will officially be titled the Betfred Cup.

The new format for the competition will see eight groups of five teams playing each other once each in a round-robin format across five dates in July. The group stage will consist of the 38 teams not involved in qualifiers for Uefa’s European competitions, as well as winners of this season’s Highland League and Lowland League.

The traditional three points for a win and one point for a draw model will be adopted during the group stage. All drawn matches will go straight to a penalty shoot-out, with the winner picking up a bonus point. The bonus point format is believed to be a first in world football.

The eight group winners and four best runners-up will progress to the second round, at which point the four Uefa qualifying clubs will enter the competition. The League Cup will revert to its traditional knockout format from thereon in.

As part of the restructure, top-tier Premiership clubs will benefit from a two-week winter break during January 2017. The old Scottish Premier League had a winter break between the 1998-99 and 2002-03 seasons.

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “By building on our strong points and proud heritage as well as daring to be a little bit different we have shown Scottish football’s enduring popularity and growing reputation for innovation. We know Betfred share in our ambitious vision and we are really looking forward to working with them to bring this proud and popular competition to life for the benefit of Scottish football supporters across the country.”

Betfred’s agreement with the SPFL means the body’s three competitions are now title sponsored by bookmakers. Ladbrokes sponsors the SPFL’s four divisions, while William Hill holds naming rights to the Scottish Cup.

Betfred replaces energy firm Utilita as title sponsor of the League Cup, which was this season won for the first time by Premiership side Ross County.