EFL clubs voted for a record new five-year live TV deal with Sky Sports worth almost a BILLION POUNDS.
The £935million agreement will see more than 1,000 matches broadcast, starting in 2024-25.
Club chiefs unanimously approved the new deal — a 50 per cent increase on the current terms in place since 2018 — after being informed of Sky’s offer on Friday morning.
The EFL were willing to consider ending the Saturday 3pm TV blackout but it WILL remain as part of the new deal.
In total, 1,059 league, EFL Cup — including all 93 ties — and EFL Trophy matches will be shown live on Sky or a streaming platform, replacing the iFollow service.
Currently, Sky televises 138 EFL league games each season.
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The league entered into an exclusive negotiating period with Sky in April.
The deal is made up of guaranteed payments of £895m — plus £40m in marketing benefits.
EFL chief exec Trevor Birch called it a “landmark deal for EFL clubs”.
He said: “This 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.”
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Birch added: “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.”
Sky Sports Managing Director Jonathan Licht said: “This is a ground-breaking deal for Sky and our long-standing partners, the EFL.
“This is the biggest deal in football, in terms of the number of matches being broadcast.”
Licht also promised: “Between Sky and the league, we’re pleased to be able to make a commitment to fans that will ensure greater notice periods around the movement of matches for broadcast.
“There’ll also be greater parity in the number of times clubs are selected to be live on Sky Sports.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
