The EFL has signalled that it may try to end the 3pm blackout rule

Championship image

The EFL’s next round of media rights could reportedly bring in over £200 million-a-season. 

According to the Daily Mail, the organisation will launch an invitation to tender next week, with interest from DAZN and Viaplay as well as BT Sport (soon to be known as TNT Sports) and current rights holder Sky Sports possibly driving the price above £200 million-a-season. Sky Sports currently pays £119 million-a-year for the exclusive rights to all the EFL’s competitions.

The EFL released a request for proposals last October, which made all 1,891 matches available for bids for three to five years - and hinted at being open to ending the 3pm blackout. Broadcast Sport spoke to EFL chief commercial officer Ben Wright shortly after that announcement, who told us “everything’s open” when it comes to a new rights deal.

Wright also told Broadcast Sport that the league is open to having a mix of broadcasters, for example allowing for live free-to-air matches as well as a pay-TV/streaming option. In addition to the Championship, League One and League Two (and their respective play-off competitions), the EFL rights include the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

The future of iFollow, the EFL’s D2C service, is also unclear, with Wright earlier saying that the EFL would be OK with only running it in some regions, or not at all, if it believes that’s the best option.