SUMMER football will become a reality in Scotland in 2016 after the SPFL confirmed extensive changes to the format of the League Cup for next season. Broadcasters BT Sport have agreed a deal thought to be in excess of £7.5m over the next four years to screen the competition, more than double the current contract which the league has with the BBC.

With the assent of the SPFL board, the tournament will now commence with a group stage to be completed before the end of July, which will see eight groups of five teams, arranged on a loosely regionalised basis, playing for a spot in the last 16. There they will join Scotland's four European entrants in a straight knock-out for the title. With the eight group winners and four best runners up to qualify after each team has played four round-robin matches, two home and two away, another groundbreaking development will see a bonus point on offer during the group stages for teams who win a penalty shoot-out which will take place after all drawn matches.

The tournament will conclude, as usual, with a showpiece final in March, with the earlier start to the season and one less round during the campaign meaning that a two-week winter break will return for Ladbrokes Premiership sides at least from January 2016. Outfits in the Championship and Leagues One and Two are still being consulted on whether they would rather take the time off too or else play right through.

With Euro 2016 this summer and international matches set to be pencilled in for June fixture dates each season under Uefa's new Nation League set-up, Scotland's top players are being presented with the reality of a 12-month season.

Neil Doncaster, the SPFL chief executive, said that the new format marked the beginning of an exciting new period for this competition which was founded back in 1947, and contained group stages right through to the late 1970s. It is currently without a title sponsor, although Utilita are currently the trophy's presenting partner. "The new format of the Scottish League Cup marks an exciting new chapter for the competition and sees Scottish football leading the way with a number of innovations," said Doncaster. “Fans, the media and clubs alike have expressed a desire for competitive summer football which will be delivered from next July while the ground-breaking bonus point system should add incentive to teams and excitement for supporters."

Whereas the BBC are understood to have paid around £900,000 a year for the right to show five matches, only four of which tend to be taken up, BT Sport have committed to screening 13 games live a season. The broadcaster will select six from the groups, which will be played Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday between the 16th and 30th of July, subject to live broadcast selections, and seven from the remainder of the tournament, including both semi-finals and the final.

All 38 SPFL teams not participating in European football will compete in the group stages, plus the winners of this season's Highland League and Lowland League, with the consensus amongst Scotland's aspiring European entrants being that extra competitive matches in July wasn't in fact helpful to their continental hopes.

The draw for the group stages will be seeded and will take into account this season's league placings (ie. Rangers and Hibs would be regarded as seeds in the event that they win promotion this season) but in practice true regional groupings may be difficult to achieve. Similar to Uefa draw procedures, the SPFL will simply stipulate that teams are not forced to travel huge distances.

“We are delighted to welcome BT Sport as our exclusive League Cup TV broadcast partner and to have their support for the new format," added Doncaster. "Our agreement with BT Sport delivers a huge increase in the number of games being shown live as well as providing increased competition prize money for clubs.

“The new format has also enabled the re-introduction of a winter break for Ladbrokes Premiership clubs," he added. "We are consulting with Ladbrokes Championship, League 1 and League 2 clubs to establish whether they also favour a winter break in their respective divisions."

"BT Sport is thrilled to deepen its connection to Scottish football through this new long-term deal," said Simon Green, head of BT Sport. "Our team looks forward to bringing fans an exciting and innovative competition. Today's agreement expands our summer programming line-up while also giving Scottish football fans an exciting new summer football competition."