EFL £600M deal with Sky

BBC reports a new deal

The EFL has successfully concluded negotiations with Sky Sports for live domestic broadcasting rights for a further five seasons from 2019/20.

The new agreement, worth £600m, represents a 36% year-on-year increase on the current arrangement and will continue to see Sky Sports exclusively broadcast the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup, Checkatrade Trophy and Sky Bet Play-Offs live through until May 2024.

This arrangement has been finalised following an open tender process that was designed to maximise both the financial return and exposure for all 72 member Clubs, the EFL and its competitions.

Under the new agreement, Sky Sports in each season from 2019/20 will broadcast:

· A maximum of 150 exclusive Sky Bet EFL League matches, which include:
· 16 Sky Bet Championship games on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings;
· A minimum of 20 Sky Bet League One and League Two matches;
· The 15 Sky Bet EFL Play-Off matches including all three Finals;
· 15 matches from the Carabao Cup including the Final;
· The Semi-Final and Final of the Checkatrade Trophy.

In addition, and in what is another first for English football, the EFL will be offering its Clubs the opportunity to live-stream in the UK and Ireland any league match via their respective iFollow (or equivalent) service that takes place outside the blocked hours of 14.45-17.15 on Saturday afternoons and that is not broadcast live on Sky Sports. Sky Sports will have the right to stream the same Championship fixtures to subscribers across their interactive and digital services.

Games in the Checkatrade Trophy will also be available for live-streaming in the UK and Ireland via iFollow (or equivalent service). iFollow was launched earlier this year and gives supporters overseas the ability to watch their team on match days alongside providing thousands of fans based in the UK the opportunity to listen to audio commentary.