Scottish Professional Football League chief Neil Doncaster is ready to explore the possibility of a league game being played abroad, he said yesterday.

On the day Scotland’s top clubs celebrated a radical overhaul of the League Cup which landed them an £8 million windfall, Doncaster feels that no stone should be left unturned as the league continues to look at ways to expand its global reach.

One possible way is to play matches in other countries and after stories emerged last month that Celtic and Dundee are hoping to play a Premiership game in the United States, Doncaster backed the idea.

“We owe it to everyone involved to look at what’s possible and work through the ramifications,” he told BBC Scotland.

“Certainly if we’re talking about innovation, that is exciting innovation.

“I think there are all sorts of considerations that have to be worked through. The Premier League had similar plans south of the border a few years ago which ultimately came to nothing, but there is a demand there to explore it.

“Let’s not have a closed mind to anything. Let’s see how it could be part of an exciting new future for the game.”

But not everyone is pleased with the changes, with Hearts owner Ann Budge disappointed that the teams were not informed about the new format prior to the information being released to the public.

“I would liked to have known a little bit more about them before they were publicly announced,” said Budge.

“I’ve had no longer to study them than you have. They were all things that were mooted before, but in terms of a total package being put together it wasn’t something most of us were aware of.

“We’ve talked about a winter break, we’ve talked about summer football, this is the beginning of something.

“So I’m not saying it’s wrong, just that I would have liked to have known more about it before it was announced.”

The new League Cup deal will see changes being made to the format, including a summer group stage, penalties after 90 minutes of drawn matches and bonus points for teams who win those shootouts.

“We always want something bigger and better than we have at the moment,” Doncaster said. “Hopefully with the changes we’ve announced with the League Cup we’ve delivered that but the discussion will continue.

“If you look at Denmark they are currently bringing in a 14-team league from what was a 12-team league previously. Innovation in league football always continues all around the world and we’re no exception.”

Bosses from the Scottish Professional Football League say the new TV package will raise more than double the £900,000 a year generated by the current BBC deal.