Sky Sports renews EFL rights over £935m deal

Sky Sports has secured a £935m deal for the broadcasting rights to EFL across a five-year period with over 1,000 matches each season aired across the network’s channels.

Running from the 2024/25 season to the 2028/29 season, the agreement will be made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing benefits. A total, 1,059 EFL matches will be broadcasted exclusively across Sky Sports channels or live via a Sky Sports streaming destination.

It marks a record number of games to be broadcasted for any club football agreement and represents a 50% increase on the value of the current rights agreement.

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. Alongside all of the 15 pay-off matches, 93 Carabao Cup matches and 127 EFL Trophy matches.

The new deal also allows for Article 48, the blocked broadcast period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturday afternoons to remain. This sees the main broadcast fixtures scheduled for outside of this time.

Additionally, the increased coverage of 2024/25 season and onward 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.

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.”