Sky Sports are planning to announce scheduled English Football League (EFL) TV picks from August up until the third round of the FA Cup in January before the start of the 2024-25 season.
The broadcaster, who will also show every game from all three EFL divisions on the opening day of the new campaign, are taking this action to avoid any potential fan disruption.
By November, Sky plan to announce TV picks for January to March, and the rest of the season will follow a ‘traditional’ notice period as they keep up with main storylines.
Every match from across all three leagues — the Championship, League One and League Two — will be streamed live on the opening weekend on a brand new channel, a first in broadcasting history.
Named Sky Sports+, the channel will show four times as many EFL matches, with over 1,000 games being shown. All 72 EFL clubs will also feature more than 20 times per season. This is a significant increase, with 20 of the 48 teams in League One and League Two only shown on TV once this season.
The broadcaster added that every Championship club will also appear “on at least 24 occasions”.
Jonathan Licht, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “For the first time, we will broadcast every game live from across the EFL on the opening weekend. It’s going to be a huge moment for football fans up and down the country and is a fitting way to kick off our ground-breaking new partnership with the EFL.”
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The introduction of the new channel follows the announcement of Sky Sports’ landmark partnership with the EFL, valued at £935million over five years, representing a 50 per cent increase in rights fees compared to the previous agreement.
In April, it was confirmed that iFollow and club streaming services will be replaced in the UK next season as part of Sky Sports’ new EFL broadcast deal.
The deal marks a departure from the previous arrangement where Championship matches were available on Sky’s red button, with League One and League Two games streamed through iFollow and club streaming services.
Under the new agreement, all midweek fixtures in the Championship, League One, and League Two will also be exclusively broadcasted live on Sky Sports from the 2024-25 campaign to 2028-29.
The deal will be made up of guaranteed payments of £895m, plus £40m in marketing benefits.
All 93 Carabao Cup matches and all 127 EFL Trophy matches will also be shown live for the first time.
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