EFL opens up to live streaming with extended Sky deal

The English Football League, which operates the three divisions below the top-tier Premier League, has agreed a five-season extension to its rights deal with Sky through an agreement that opens up new live streaming opportunities to the UK pay-television broadcaster and the league’s member clubs.

The new deal will run from 2019-20 to 2023-24 and is worth £600m (€651.6m/$776.6m), representing a 36 per cent year-on-year increase on the current arrangement, which was set to expire at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

The new contract will continue to see Sky Sports exclusively broadcast the EFL, League Cup, EFL Trophy and Play-Off games across the Championship, League One and League Two, live through until May 2024.

The arrangement has been finalised following an open tender process that was launched in July. Under the new agreement, Sky Sports in each season from 2019-20 will broadcast a maximum of 150 exclusive EFL league matches, which now include 16 Championship games on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

In addition, and in what the EFL claims is a first for English football, the league will offer 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 2.45pm-5.15pm 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 EFL Trophy will also be available for live-streaming in the UK and Ireland via iFollow or an equivalent service. iFollow was launched earlier this year and gives supporters overseas the ability to watch their team on match days alongside providing fans based in the UK the opportunity to listen to audio commentary.

Sky’s television coverage will also include a minimum of 20 League One and League Two matches per season; the 15 Play-Off matches including all three finals; 15 matches from the League Cup including the final and the semi-final and final of the EFL Trophy.

EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey said: “These negotiations came at what was an incredibly challenging period in the sale and acquisition of sports rights in the UK and, having fully tested the market, we believe that not only has a significant increase in value for our clubs been achieved, but also the very best deal, with the best partner has been delivered.

“In agreeing a deal over five seasons, it delivers a guaranteed increase in the level of income distributed to EFL clubs from 2019-20 and long-term financial certainty was an absolute priority throughout this process. It is a partnership that as well as having mutual tangible benefits, allows the EFL to maximise reach and exposure for its competitions, alongside providing further opportunities for clubs to generate additional incremental revenues through iFollow.

“The new opportunity for EFL clubs to live-stream their matches through a direct to consumer service in the UK is a revolutionary and exciting step forward for football broadcasting rights in the UK and we will monitor its progress closely to determine how this model can be considered for future EFL rights cycles.”

Sky said viewing of live EFL games grew by 12 per cent year-on-year last season, and is up a further seven per cent so far this season.