(Reuters) – The English Football League (EFL) has approved a record broadcasting deal with Sky Sports worth 935 million pounds ($1.18 billion) over a five-year period, a 50% increase on the value of the current rights agreement, it said on Friday.
EFL clubs unanimously voted to accept the deal, which will see over 1,000 matches being broadcast or streamed from the 2024-25 to 2028-29 seasons.
The EFL, which organises the professional leagues below the top flight Premier League, said the arrangement would be made up of guaranteed payments of 895 million pounds and 40 million pounds in marketing benefits.
“This is the biggest deal in football, in terms of the number of matches being broadcast,” Sky Sports Managing Director Jonathan Licht said in a statement.
“We look forward to working with the EFL and its 72 member clubs to give fans the most entertaining viewing experience.”
The deal is worth only a fraction of the value of the Premier League’s, however. The English top flight renewed its deals with Sky, BT and Amazon for around 5 billion pounds for three seasons to 2024-25.
($1 = 0.7915 pounds)
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
