DAZN’s bid for EFL TV rights would be ‘great for English football’, says Simon Jordan

DAZN’s £200m offer for the rights to EFL TV would be “great for English football”, says Simon Jordan, believing it would give the organization “leverage” over the Premier League.

The ambitious move could spell the end of the 3pm blackout after Sportsmail revealed this week that the streaming platform wanted to buy the rights to all 1,656 games from the 2024-25 season onward.

The blackout, which has been in place since the 1960s to encourage fans to support teams in the lower leagues, only applies when 50 percent of Premier League and Championship games start at 3 p.m. a Saturday.

If half the show aired, it would allow all the games to be televised. sports mail Sports columnist and pundit Jordan acknowledges that the UK has a ‘pub culture’ which is sacred, but still believes big business would be positive for English football.

However, he urged the EFL to demand much more than DAZN’s proposed £200m as it will empower the organization and result in the football pyramid “holding together again”.

The streaming platform has submitted a £200 million offer that would see them stream all 1,656 games.

‘Believe [DAZN deal] would be a great opportunity’, said talk sport. I think it’s an opportunity for the EFL to start making money in the league because they’re getting petty deals, crumbs off the table.

“I would want more than 200 million pounds, I would want 300 million pounds, and I’m sure Trevor [Birch] and Rick [Parry] I want that. I’m sure they will start negotiating.

“Then you start to move into territory where you get that kind of money, you open up that kind of opportunity, you get your influence in the Premier League to get more money from them, because they are terrified of an independent regulator. you

“Then all of a sudden you have a pyramid that starts to stick together again, which is great for English football.”

Jordan said it was important to “get the economics right” despite fears that some clubs would be hurt by fans watching games on TV if it meant fewer people traveling to watch games.

The UK fans are something unique because no other country takes fans the way we travel and take our fans,” he added. ‘You go to Spain and they don’t travel that way, you go to America and they don’t. They do it that way. We do it as a unique part of our culture.

Jordan believes big deal would give EFL power and ‘leverage’ over Premier League

He’s not worried that the proposal, which would end the 3 p.m. blackout, will have a big impact on fans who attend the games.

‘We have a pub culture, we have a football culture. That culture is “we want to be away on days, we want to be with our colleagues, we want to go there.” Of course, if it’s a Wednesday night at Barnsley and it’s raining and the 200 fans he takes there can turn into 150, then I get it, but let’s talk good economics.

The EFL’s existing broadcast deal allows them to receive £119 a year from Sky Sports, which includes just 138 live games per season, with many clubs rarely seen on TV.

The organization believes there is a greater demand to see their teams in action on a regular basis, and DAZN is willing to share games with other broadcasters as long as they can continue to show each game on their own.

Other companies believed to have submitted bids for the rights include Sky Sports, BT Sport and Swedish company Viaplay. The EFL are also looking for a terrestrial partner, with ITV believed to be the favourite.

The EFL has been inviting offers for between three and five years and will make a decision on the length of the contract depending on the offer they receive. There are 20 packages up for grabs, featuring the three EFL divisions, the play-offs, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.