Sky Sports will retain the EFL television rights in the UK after clubs voted through a new five-year agreement worth £935 million.
The broadcasting giant has held the EFL’s live rights since 2002, with the current deal worth £595 million. The new deal – starting from the 2024-25 season – will make more than 1,000 games available.
Last month, the EFL announced Sky Sports as its preferred rights bidder, despite a substantial offer from streaming powerhouse DAZN. Since then, the league has been negotiating with the broadcaster to find the best solution for the parties involved.
The new deal will see a fourfold increase in the number of EFL games broadcast or streamed each season, with a total of 1,059 matches set to be available to paying customers.
Trevor Birch, the chief executive of the EFL, said:
“This increased investment and coverage from Sky Sports will showcase much more of our compelling match action to fans while delivering record rights values as we seek to make our clubs sustainable at all levels.”
From 2024-25, Sky Sports subscribers will be able to access 10 live EFL matches every weekend. These fixtures will include five Championship clashes and five games from League One and League Two.
Per season, Sky Sports will show a minimum of:
- 328 Championship games
- 248 League One games
- 248 League Two games
- All 127 EFL Trophy games
- All 93 League Cup games
- All 15 play-off games
It is worth noting that the new deal will honour the 3pm blackout in the UK, meaning no matches will be broadcast between 14:45 and 17:15 on Saturday afternoons.
With guaranteed payments of £895m and a further £40m in marketing rights on offer, EFL clubs are set to enjoy a big pay increase. Championship teams will receive an extra 46% in television revenue, while League One and League Two clubs will get an extra 25%.
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