EFL clubs have unanimously approved a five year domestic TV rights deal with broadcaster Sky Sports.
- Over 1,000 matches will be broadcast per season between August 2024 and May 2029.
- The games will be made available via existing Sky Sports channels and via a Sky Sports streaming service for both TV and mobile devices.
Each season, Sky Sports will broadcast a minimum of:
- 328 Sky Bet Championship matches
- 248 Sky Bet League One matches
- 248 Sky Bet League Two matches
- All 15 Play-Off matches
- All 93 Carabao Cup matches
- All 127 EFL Trophy matches
All opening, final day, and midweek fixtures in the Sky Bet EFL will be shown live as will all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day alongside the matches played in Sky Bet League One & Two during international breaks.
As part of the deal, fans will also be given greater advance notice of which games will be televised.
But one major tradition won’t be changing: they’ll be no live coverage of Saturday 3pm kick-offs. “Article 48”, which blocks live coverage between 2:45 and 5:15pm remains.
Streaming
The Sky-EFL deal means more matches will be available to stream.
The enhanced provision for streaming reflects Sky’s ongoing shift away from traditional satellite broadcasting in favour of streaming.
From the 2024/25 season, the new Sky Sports streaming arrangement will effectively replace the current Sky Sports EFL red button coverage and the EFL’s domestic streaming option provided via iFollow and club streaming services.
This doesn’t affect audio streaming, nor services provided to international audiences.
Minimum numbers of Cameras guaranteed
- Sky Sports will have a minimum of eight cameras for each game broadcast on existing channels.
- However, for matches available to stream, Sky commentary will be provided and a minimum of four cameras will be used at Championship and League One matches, and a minimum of two cameras in League Two.
Sky will pay £935 million for the rights. This will be made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing benefits.
Marc Thornham