The English Football League has announced a new video content partnership with YouTube.
Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the agreement will see the Football League’s online arm, FL Interactive – which includes clubs from across the Football League, Premier League and non-league game – launch official YouTube channels for more than 85 clubs, as well as the Football League itself.
From launch, they will become football’s largest network of official club channels across the YouTube platform.
Each season more than 20,000 free-to-view videos will be launched across these channels, including match highlights and clips from Football League competitions, behind the scenes access at individual clubs, live programming, match preview and review shows, as well as footage and compilations from the Football League archive.
Clubs will also be able to use the video-sharing platform to showcase content available through their official website and also deliver YouTube content on their website. The new channels, which will be available globally, will also feature co-productions with established YouTube partners in the sport, music, entertainment and gaming spheres.
Football League chief commercial officer Richard Heaselgrave said: “This is completely new territory for the Football League and fits with our vision of entertaining fans seven days a week, 365 days a year rather than for just 90 minutes every Saturday. To do this we are investing in new resources and platforms to deliver better, more diverse content to fans when and how they want it. This new agreement is a crucial element of that strategy as it gives clubs a truly global platform from which to engage with both new and existing fans through regular, creative and original programming.”