Scotland’s World Cup return spurs SNP push for free-to-air major sports

• The SNP has declared it vital for all major international sporting events to be broadcast on free-to-air television to prevent public exclusion.
• This call comes as Scotland's men's football team prepares for their first World Cup since 1998, with all their matches this summer shown on terrestrial TV.
• SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor highlighted that the BBC deal for qualifying matches has ended, raising concerns that future games may revert to paid subscription services.
• MacGregor argued that paywalls exclude much of the population, especially with rising living costs, making free access to major sporting events vital.
• The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport stated that the current listed events regime balances free-to-air access with sports' income generation and has no plans to amend it.

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Scotland’s World Cup qualifier shows football should be on terrestrial TV, says SNP