EFL Agrees Record Sky Sports Deal
The English Football League (EFL) has agreed a record five-year deal with Sky Sports.
The agreement will span from the 2024/25 to 2028/29 season and will see over 1000 EFL matches shown on Sky Sports, per season.
The EFL clubs unanimously approved a record domestic rights deal with the British subscription sports broadcaster, reflecting a 50% increase on the value of the current rights agreement.
The deal will guarantee more exposure for all EFL clubs through Sky Sports platforms and will be made up of £895m in guaranteed payments and a further £40m in marketing benefits.
1,059 EFL matches will be broadcasted exclusively across Sky Sports channels with a minimum 328 Sky Bet Championship matches, 248 Sky Bet League One matches, 248 Sky Bet League Two matches and all play-off, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy matches.
This equates to a record number of games being broadcasted for any club football agreement.
A major part of the agreement will see the ‘3pm blackout’ remain. The blocked broadcast period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturday afternoons is designed to ensure attendance at lower league football.
The EFL previously considered scrapping the Saturday 3pm blackout as there was ‘a desire to evolve and grow‘ its audience. Global sports streaming service, DAZN, shared the same interests and placed a bid to show every single EFL match in the UK and internationally.
However, in April, the EFL named Sky Sports as its preferred bidder.
Trevor Birch, Chief Executive Officer of the EFL, said, “After completing an extensive tender and negotiation process, this is a landmark broadcast deal for EFL clubs, establishing the League as a premium partner with a world-renowned broadcaster in Sky Sports.
“The EFL is an iconic sports property and one of the biggest and best attended Leagues in European football. 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.
“For decades, Sky Sports has been a fantastic broadcast partner for both the EFL and English football, helping our sport grow through its sustained support, so we are delighted to announce this innovative agreement that combines the strength of an established brand with a modern streaming service for the benefit of EFL clubs, fans and Sky Sports alike.
“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.”
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