West Brom could bag piece of £200m pie as EFL explore TV rights deal
West Brom could bag themselves a piece of a “£200m” pie as the EFL is set to double their television rights deal, after the news was shared by the Daily Mail.
The report claims that the EFL have been flooded with “inundated” with interest from streaming companies like ViaPlay and Dazn alongside television mainstays BT Sport and current rights owners Sky Sports.
The Daily Mail report that the EFL are inviting bids for between three to five years and will decide on the length of the contract depending on the offers they receive.
“The EFL’s television rights are set to double in value to over £200million-a-year as they prepare to issue an invitation to tender [ITT] to broadcasters next week,” as quoted by the Daily Mail. (23 February)
“Sportsmail has learned that the EFL have been inundated with expressions of interest from broadcasters since beginning the sales process last October, with streaming companies such as Viaplay and DAZN joining Sky Sports and BT Sport in the battle to secure live matches.
“The EFL are inviting bids for between three and five years, and will decide on the length of the contract depending on the offers they receive.
“The clubs were informed earlier on Thursday that the EFL are confident a five-year deal could raise close to £1billion due to the emergence of a number of new players into the market scrambling to secure live content.
“The EFL are convinced there is demand from broadcasters and viewers for more live matches, as the current Sky deal for 138 games-per-year involves just two Championship matches being shown each weekend, with very few League One and Two games broadcast live all season.”
Mad money.
If the viewing figures for EFL games are indeed high enough to warrant such a deal then no one can complain, clubs will just have to act sensibly if so.
The standard in the Championship at the moment is incredibly good, especially compared to other lower leagues from around Europe.
This has been demonstrated in recent years when the clubs from the second tier have faced Premier League opposition and matched them.
And deals like this make it far less worrying if West Brom were to stay in the Championship beyond this season.
It’s unheard of in football that leagues at the lower end of a country would receive such a vast and prosperous TV deal and it’s mad to think how the EFL will be challenging top leagues in the coming years.
Anyway, it’s about time that teams further down the footballing pyramid got their piece of the pie, especially with the English top flight thriving at an all-time high.
If the Baggies, unfortunately, don’t gain promotion, it may not all be bad news at The Hawthorns.
In other West Brom news, Albion have completed an under-the-radar singing after a player was spotted at The Hawthorns with his new club’s kit.