Scotland’s Nations League Matches Against Croatia and Poland to Stream on YouTube

The concluding Nations League fixtures for Scotland, featuring matches against Croatia and Poland, are once again scheduled to be streamed on YouTube, rather than being aired on traditional television channels. Scandinavian broadcaster Viaplay holds the broadcasting rights for these games; however, the company declared in June 2023 its intention to reduce its presence in the United Kingdom. While Viaplay will continue to produce the coverage for these encounters, the broadcasts themselves will be accessible via the Scottish FA’s official YouTube channel, which is dedicated to the national team. This setup mirrors the arrangement for the October matches, where a defeat to Croatia and a draw with Portugal collectively garnered over 1.5m views on YouTube. Steve Clarke’s team is set to host Croatia at Hampden on Friday, subsequently concluding their campaign with an away fixture against Poland on Monday. Both games are scheduled for 19:45 GMT. In addition to the Scotland men’s international games, Viaplay also possessed the rights to broadcast the Scottish League Cup and the United Rugby Championship when it declared its decision to cease all UK sports coverage. Subsequently, the media conglomerate divested its UK sports division, selling it back to Premier Sports earlier this year. This transaction encompassed its portion of the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup, yet it excluded the broadcasting rights for UEFA’s international tournaments. For September’s matches against Poland and Portugal, an agreement was reached between Viaplay and ITV for broadcast on the latter’s ITVX platform, with BBC Scotland also having been in discussions regarding airing those same fixtures. Nevertheless, Viaplay chose not to sublicense the rights for the remainder of the campaign.