https://www.efl.com/news/2023/may/ef...th-sky-sports/
Plenty of games to watch.
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https://www.efl.com/news/2023/may/ef...th-sky-sports/
Plenty of games to watch.
EFL clubs have unanimously approved a record domestic rights deal with broadcaster Sky Sports worth £935m over a five-year period with over 1,000 matches to be broadcast each season – a record number of games for any club football agreement.
Running from season 2024/25 to season 2028/29, the arrangement will be made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing benefits. In total, 1,059 EFL matches are set to be broadcast exclusively across existing Sky Sports channels or live via a Sky Sports streaming destination available on TV and mobile devices.
Increased value and promotion
The new deal represents a 50% increase on the value of the current rights agreement and will see significantly enhanced exposure for all EFL clubs provided through on-air and digital support from Sky Sports to promote EFL competitions, clubs, and community initiatives.
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
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 ever before 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.
All opening, final day, and midweek fixtures in the Sky Bet EFL will be shown live as will all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day alongside the matches played in Sky Bet League One & Two during international breaks.
Increased notice for fans
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. Greater parity in the number of times that clubs are selected for TV coverage is also guaranteed.
Article 48 to remain
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. Final fixture slots will be confirmed at a later date.
Domestic Streaming
From the 2024/25 season onward, this agreement makes more matches available to stream and will effectively replace the current Sky Sports EFL red button coverage and the EFL’s domestic streaming option provided via iFollow and club streaming services. Domestic streaming audio services will remain alongside existing audio-visual arrangements for international audiences via iFollow and club streaming services.
Enhanced production values and camera numbers
The EFL and Sky Sports will continue to work together to innovate, seeking opportunities to improve coverage and take viewers closer to the action, while the EFL will be investing significantly in production infrastructure to enhance the viewing experience. Sky Sports will have a minimum of eight cameras for each game broadcast on existing channels. For matches available to stream, Sky commentary will be provided and a minimum of four cameras will be used at Championship and League One matches, and a minimum of two cameras in League Two.
Commenting, 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.
“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.”
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.
“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.
“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.
“The EFL stands alongside our key rightsholders we have partnered with for the rest of the decade, keeping Sky Sports as the number one destination for sports fans. We thank the EFL clubs and EFL board for their support and look forward to our future together.”
I'm not sure this is a good thing, most clubs are already up to their necks in over paying of wages, so this helps kick the can down the road. It'll have a negative impact on away and mid week gates i think. Could also be the sweetener for that lucrative 3pm EPL broadcast. Be interesting to see how it settles
Might turn people off buying season tickets
Assuming we're still in the Championship, and that all teams are shown on TV equally, it means that we'll have about 13 or 14 of our 23 home matches at 3pm on a Saturday.
Five Championship games each weekend not at 3pm on a Saturday. We could be playing early or late on a Saturday, maybe Friday, Sunday or Monday almost every other week.
Fine for the TV fans but going to crap on our regular routines.
I'm pretty sure every game in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 is shown on TV, the Bundesliga 2 has averaged an attendance of 24,762 so far this season... so there is precedent that attendances can still be high with nonstop TV coverage.Quote:
Originally Posted by BLUETIT
It might encourage local people who are regulars or not fans at all to go down, though in our case it would probably scare them off :hehe:
Los s of red button coverage is...no loss at all.
I’ve just cancelled Sky after 33 years :hehe:
I’ve found non 3pm Saturday games increasingly hard to get motivated for. I do love the ‘day out’ thing about Saturday games, more so in a dismal season like this one. I often use the phrase ‘the football is only 90 minutes in the middle of a good day out’, this isn’t the case on other days, it’s very often drive down, drive back.
Has any thought been given to local businesses around grounds? Canton, particularly, I'd imagine relies heavily on Saturday match day takings. Doubt if games on other days contribute anywhere near as much. The financial knock on affect could be another nail in the coffin for some outlets. I’m not taken by this at all.
I haven't had it for years, so out of interest how much is Sky Sports nowadays?
It sometimes surprises me that all this stacks up. Who on earth is watching a League Two game on a Saturday tea time or whatever?
theres a game live at 3pm today man city v leeds :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by OurManFlint II
The season tickets for Bundesliga are a lot cheaper than tickets over here though so think that helps with the attendanceQuote:
Originally Posted by Der Kaiser
“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
All 127 EFL Trophy matches”
Am I being thick here (yes, possibly) but with 24 teams each in the Championship, L1 and L2 giving a combined teams total of 72 how can there be 824 live games televised per season?
Right, didn't realise (i'm not UK based), thought that KO was a blackout.Quote:
Originally Posted by poc
12 matches (each match day), 46 match days = 552 in a championship season.*Quote:
Originally Posted by fingers
* i'm baked, math could well out :ohwell:
Thank you, obvious when it’s explained :ayatollah: Your maths was spot on, carry on drinkingQuote:
Originally Posted by OurManFlint II
It was meant to be on tv tomorrow, but was moved as Man City are in the CL semi on Tuesday. They couldn't play at 12.30 or 5.30 and be on tv, so they were allowed to play at 3pm and still be shown live as a one off.Quote:
Originally Posted by OurManFlint II
:thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bloop
It was allowed because there were no EFL games on.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bloop
There wasn't any lower league football at 3pm today, so guess thats why it was allowed.Quote:
Originally Posted by OurManFlint II
:thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bloop
Yes, this. It's another shift from the matchgoing fan towards TV.Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Morris
And the extra money will just go on players wages across every club. I suppose British football benefits, as the championship becomes stronger Vs Serie B, 2. bundesliga etc, but the clubs won't really benefit and we certainly won't