EFL Offer Broadcasting Rights To A New Era In Streaming
The EFL launched its Request For Proposals (RFP) document today which will potentially see the transformation of how the League’s matches are consumed in the UK.
The broadcast rights will be available from the beginning of season 2024/25 when the current five-year agreement with Sky Sports expires.
The RFP suggests that the EFL will be open to offering all 1,891 League, EFL Cup, EFL Trophy and all end of season Play-Off matches for the first time which could see the scrapping of the ‘blackout’ which restricts the broadcasting of live football matches between the hours of 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays.
Ben Wight, the EFL’s Chief Commercial Officer, told fcbusiness: “We’ve taken the approach that we’ve 1,891 league matches a season and we currently make only 5% of those available live in the UK on a weekend.
“We’ve got plenty of fan research that shows there’s a thirst for more. We’ve also clearly got a society that is used to consuming content in a certain way.”
The EFL is hoping to attract bids from streaming service providers such as Apple, Amazon Prime TV and Netflix with an attractive package that gives both depth and breadth in live football opportunities.
Wright, added: “What we’ve looked at is rather than pegging ourselves to a limited number approach, we’re going to talk to the market about what the possibilities might look like and one of those options is offering everything.
“Hopefully by running the process we’ll unlock the value of 1,891 live matches. We want to stress test it and I think if we didn’t stress test it; the question would be ‘why didn’t we?’.”
Streaming played a vital role in helping clubs survive the pandemic and the enforced closure of stadiums to fans which decimated vital matchday revenues for most of the 2020/21 season. However, the temporary lifting of the blackout during this period was revoked when fans were allowed to return to stadiums.
Broadcasting makes up around three quarters of the EFL’s current yearly revenues and the League is hopeful it can significantly improve on the previous deal with Sky Sports which was worth £595m over five years.
The MLS recently signed a broadcasting deal with Apple TV worth $2.5bn which will see all its games broadcast on the platform for the next 10 years and is something the EFL feel could be replicated in the UK.
“With 54% of the UK population watching EFL football on television each year and a global audience of more than 400 million, it’s an exciting time to be going to market for the League’s broadcast rights,” Wright continued.
“Whilst the appetite for EFL football remains stronger than ever, we want to grow this audience further. We are inviting proposals from organisations that can enhance and develop the League’s offering, taking a new and innovative approach to how people consume EFL content.
“Alongside the EFL’s rich tradition and distinguished history there is a desire to evolve, grow and innovate in order to grow our audience further and we’re looking for a partner or partners who share that vision.”
Bidders must submit responses by 5pm on 21 November 2022.
