Sky has signed a new agreement with the English Football League (EFL) that will see 1,059 matches broadcast each season from 2024/25.
The five-year deal will see Sky pay the EFL £935 million over the five-year period of the contract – a record number of games for any club football agreement – made up of guaranteed payments of £895 million and £40 million in marketing benefits.
The matches will be broadcast exclusively across the Sky Sports linear channels and associated streaming destinations over TV and mobile devices. With Sky streaming the vast majority of games live, the League will wind up its iFollow service. Domestic streaming audio services will remain alongside existing audio-visual arrangements for international audiences via iFollow and club streaming services.
“With some 20 million attending Sky Bet EFL matches each season and significant interest in the League at home and abroad, we look forward to growing our collective fanbase further and we’d like to thank Sky Sports for its ongoing commitment to the clubs and the communities which this investment will directly support,” said EFL Chief Executive Trevor Birch.
The new deal allows for ‘Article 48’, the blocked broadcast period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturday afternoons to remain, meaning that main broadcast fixtures will be scheduled for outside of this time.
While a 50% mark-up on Sky’s current fees, Sky will be thankful to have outmanoeuvred its increasing number of rivals in the sector, including DAZN and a BT Sport now jointly-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Sky Sports Managing Director, Jonathan Licht said: “This is a ground-breaking deal for Sky and our long-standing partners, the EFL. We believe that fans of all 72 league clubs will benefit with increased coverage across all the leagues and competitions. With four times as many matches than we currently offer, we will capture even more of the excitement created by this unique league – and in a way that will be immediately accessible to millions of supporters.
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 and All 127 EFL Trophy matches
Each League weekend fixture round will see 10 live EFL fixtures shown. Five matches will be shown from the Sky Bet Championship and supporters of Sky Bet League One and League Two teams will now benefit from greater coverage than previous with five of their games being broadcast live. For the first time ever, fans will be also able to watch every match from the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy.
Sky has promised fans a new longer period of notice when making its sections.
With the substantial increase in the number of live matches, Sky Sports and the EFL will introduce a new commitment for clubs and fans which will provide longer notice periods on TV selections. The defined notice periods will enable clubs and fans to plan further in advance and this will include the placement of all live matches selected for broadcast for the period to FA Cup 3rd Round before the start of the season.
