A new EFL TV rights deal has been agreed overseas as part of a push for expansion amongst the second, third and fourth tier of English football.
The EFL have announced a new agreement on a TV rights deal that will focus on pushing games to overseas audiences. The four-year collaboration is set to net record fees on the televised front, with revenues rising further.
Derby County are one of 72 clubs that have approved such a deal, with the game in a delicate financial position. A report from the Athletic claims that the new international deal is worth at least £148million to the EFL, a 40% increase on the previous agreement.
The new partnership will see the EFL have separate distributors for their matches in America as well as the rest of the world.
EFL TV deal breakdown
The new TV deal doesn’t impact the domestic home market, but rather those overseas and how they are distributed. Relevent Sports, the distributor for the Americas, has the ability to sell all EFL matches, play-off matches, League Cup matches and three EFL Trophy matches.
As for Pitch, who handle Europe and the rest of the world, they have access to sell 155 Championship matches, 38 League One and League Two matches, all play-off and League Cup matches as well as three EFL Trophy matches.
The EFL’s iFollow service is set to continue in overseas territories, but only if the games aren’t being broadcasted exclusively in the region by the distributor.
The report of a guaranteed £148million works out as being worth £37million-a-year to the EFL in international TV rights. The latest UK TV deal was signed in 2023, with the EFL claiming it to be worth £935million over a five-year period.
The increase in revenue from the TV deal is likely to come as a huge boost to clubs that are dwarfed by the ever-increasing impact of financial disparity across England’s four tiers. The impact of the agreement beyond that is yet unknown.
EFL TV deal statement
Upon the completion of the new TV deal, EFL Chief Executive Trevor Birch said in a statement: “These new agreements represent not only guaranteed levels of revenue but also present the League and our 72 Clubs with a fantastic opportunity to establish further the EFL as a premium football brand in markets across the world.
“In Pitch and Relevent we have two partners with an in-depth understanding of the global TV rights markets and that knowledge, coupled with the enthusiasm of their teams, will hopefully ensure we achieve our objective of delivering value to Clubs alongside taking EFL football to as wide an audience as possible outside the UK.”