The clubs in the English Football League (EFL) recently approved a record domestic rights deal with broadcaster Sky Sports worth £935 million ($1.1 billion) over a five-year period. The agreement guarantees the broadcast of over 1,000 games per season, more than any other club soccer deal in history.
The deal, which will run from the 2024–25 season through the 2028–29 season, will consist of guaranteed payments totaling £895 million and marketing benefits worth £40 million. Value-wise, the new deal is a 50% improvement over the old rights agreement.
There will be a total of 1,059 EFL games shown either exclusively on Sky Sports channels or streamed live on a Sky Sports destination accessible via TVs and mobile devices.
Sky Sports will air at least 328 matches from the Sky Bet Championship, 248 from League One, 248 from League Two, all 15 Play-Off games, 93 from the Carabao Cup, and 127 from the EFL Trophy each season.
BREAKING: EFL clubs have unanimously approved a record domestic rights deal with Sky Sports worth £935m over a five-year period with over 1000 matches to be broadcast each season – a record number of games for any club football agreement. 🎥✍️ pic.twitter.com/GkwTXKGWL0
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 5, 2023
Although this is the EFL’s largest deal with the broadcaster, it pales in comparison to the Premier League’s deal. The English Premier League extended their three-year deal with Sky Sports, BT Sports, and Amazon to include the 2024/25 season, for a total of about £5 billion.
EFL Chief Executive is “delighted” about the new deal
Chief executive of the EFL, Trevor Birch, 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.”
He added: “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.”
“We are delighted to announce thhttps://twitter.com/EFL/status/1654539553351270402is 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,” he further added.
Sky Sports managing director, Jonathan Licht, also added on the topic: “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.”
As part of their new deal with Sky Sports, the EFL have announced that fans will have longer notice periods on games being selected for TV coverage 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/rqjvmdMW5e
— FanHub (@FanHub) May 5, 2023
“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,” he also added.
“This is the biggest deal in football, in terms of the number of matches being broadcast and we look forward to working with the EFL and its 72 member clubs to give fans the most entertaining viewing experience,” he anticipated.
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