UK pay-television broadcaster BSkyB has agreed a three-year extension to its current rights agreement with the English Football League, taking the partnership through to 2018.
Under the new deal, Sky Sports will offer more exclusively live matches than ever before, an increase of 37 live games per season. The partnership ensures Sky Sports will continue to broadcast Football League competitions for another five years from the 2013-14 season.
From the 2015-16 season, a total of 148 live games will be shown each season from the Football League, along with the Capital One Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy knockout cup competitions.
From August 2015, Sky Sports will broadcast exclusively live each season 112 matches from across the Football League, the Football League Play-Offs including all three finals, 15 matches from the Capital One Cup including both legs of each semi-final and the final, the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final and at least two matches from the preceding rounds.
Sky Sports will also broadcast highlights and clips of the Football League, Capital One Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. The agreement encompasses television, broadband internet, video-on-demand and mobile services.
The deal also makes Sky’s wholly owned online gaming subsidiary, Sky Bet, the title sponsor of the Football League under a five-year agreement commencing from the 2013-14 season.
The Daily Mail newspaper said the two deals are worth £300m (€347.3m/$453.1m) to the Football League.
“The Football League is focused on delivering financial sustainability to our member clubs and this agreement will help us achieve that aim,” Football League chairman Greg Clarke said. “Already we are delivering careful management of costs through our Financial Fair Play regulations and now we can add increased revenues to our clubs. They will be delighted by this news and the financial certainty it brings for the next five years.”