DAZN launch bid to buy TV rights for all EFL matches in 2024-25

DAZN launched a bid to buy the live TV rights to all EFL games from the 2024/25 season onwards, in a move that would revolutionize the viewing experience for armchair fans.

Sportsmail revealed last October that the EFL was inviting bids to televise all of its 1,656 matches each season in a bold proposal that would require ending the Saturday 3pm blackout, which has been in place since the 1960s.

The EFL is seeking around £200m a year from broadcasters for its next rights deal, which has prompted them to explore radical alternatives to the existing television model. The current £119m a year contract with Sky Sports is for just 138 live matches each season, with the result that many clubs are rarely seen on television.

With Sky Sports’ regular offering featuring just two Championship games each weekend, fans of clubs in the bottom two divisions rarely see their side play. Only 20 League 1 matches were broadcast live last season and only 10 from League 2, so 26 clubs were not on television throughout the campaign.

The EFL is convinced that there is greater demand to watch their clubs regularly, a view that DAZN’s offer appears to support. The London-based streaming service isn’t committed to buying the exclusive rights and has indicated a willingness to share gameplay with other broadcasters, but wants the ability to show each game on its own.

EFL TV rights to double to over £200m per year, sports mail understands

Sky Sports, BT Sport and Norwegian company Viapay are also known to have submitted offers to the EFL, which is also looking for a terrestrial partner, with ITV believed to be the favourite.

The EFL tender has called for offers for between three and five years, and will decide the length of the contract based on the offers it receives. Given the number of matches available, the rights offer has been divided into more than 20 different packages including the three EFL divisions, the play-offs, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.

Eliminating the 3pm blackout would come from the EFL lobbying the FA, who in turn would have to apply to UEFA for an exemption. However, the blackout only applies when 50 per cent of Premier League and Championship games are due to start at 3pm on Saturday, so switching halfway through the program would also allow all games to be televised.

The Premier League will watch the EFL sale process with interest as the top flight comes on the market in 12 months with an auction for the TV rights from 2025 to 2028. The biggest clubs feel that the Premier League’s current TV rights League with Sky Sports and BT are undervalued, with the American-owned ones in particular lobbying for the right to sell more matches to broadcast companies.