EFL
iFollow and club streaming services will be replaced in the UK next season as part of Sky Sports’ new five-year English Football League (EFL) broadcast deal.
All midweek fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will be shown live on Sky from the 2024-25 campaign to 2028-29.
These fixtures had previously been available to watch in the UK on EFL subscription service iFollow and clubs’ in-house streaming services, and the Championship’s were also on Sky’s red button.
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A Sky Sports statement read: “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.”
The EFL has confirmed its international streaming services for overseas viewers will continue next season.
iFollow was first introduced by the EFL in 2017, with match passes sold for £10.
It was confirmed in March 2023 that EFL clubs had approved a record five-year rights deal with Sky worth £935million — a 50 per cent increase on the value of the current rights agreement
Sky has confirmed that the deal will be made up of guaranteed payments of £895m, plus £40m in marketing benefits.
A total of 1,059 matches will be broadcast – a record number of games for any club football agreement.
This will be made up of 328 from the Championship and 248 from both League One and League Two, plus all 15 play-off matches.
All 93 Carabao Cup matches and all 127 EFL Trophy matches will also be shown live for the first time.
In addition to the midweek fixtures, all opening and final day fixtures across the three divisions will also be shown live, plus all matches on bank holidays.
Article 48, the blocked broadcast period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturday afternoons, will remain.
Each weekend of fixtures will consist of 10 matches being shown live — five of which will be from the Championship.
League One and League Two fixtures scheduled during international breaks will also be broadcast.
With the significant increase in fixtures shown, Sky has pledged to provide fans with longer notice periods on TV selections.
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“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 third round before the start of the season,” the Sky statement continued. “Greater parity in the number of times that clubs are selected for TV coverage is also guaranteed.”
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(James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Ali Rampling is a News Editor at The Athletic. Prior to joining The Athletic, she worked as the Women’s Football Editor at 90min. Ali attended Loughborough University, and originates from Ipswich. Follow Ali on Twitter @AliRampling
