DAZN has initiated a bid to buy live TV rights to every single EFL match from the 2024/25 season onwards in an approach that would revolutionize the seeing experience for armchair fans. Reports revealed last October that the EFL were inviting offers to buy TV rights to their 1656 games each season in a smart proposal that would end the 3 pm Saturday blackout, which has been existing since the 1960s.
DAZN placed a bid to buy £200m live TV rights for all of the 1656 matches
At present, the EFL is seeking close to £ 200m a year from broadcasters for their next rights contract, which has resulted in them exploring radical alternatives to the existing TV model. The present £119m-a-year contract with Sky Sports is just for 138 live matches each season, with the outcome that many clubs are very less seen on television.
Sky Sports currently offers just two championship games every weekend. It leads to the fans of the clubs at the bottom rarely seeing their teams. Just 20 League 1 fixtures were there in a live broadcast last season and just ten from League 2, with an outcome that 26 clubs didn’t even come to television throughout the complete campaign.
Is the EFL convinced?
The EFL is sure that there is bigger demand to watch their clubs daily, a view aligning with DAZN’s bid. The London-based streaming service is not up for buying the exclusive rights, rather has shared a desire to share games with other broadcasters but wants the rights to show every game itself.
The EFL tender in accepting bids for between three and five years and will come at a point about the contract length, based on the offers they have on the table.
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