EFL Clubs Left Frustrated as Sky Sports Retain TV Rights Deal With Paltry Price Increase

Sky Sports have seemingly retained the rights to televise live Football League matches - but clubs have already expressed their anger over the paltry increase

Sky Sports have seemingly retained the rights to televise live Football League matches - but clubs have already expressed their anger over the paltry increase in the TV rights deal.

The Daily Mail has reported that Sky will stump up £120m-per-season to showcase matches from the Championship, League One and League Two - an increase on the £90m that was paid for the current deal.

However, teams in England's lower divisions have already expressed concerns over the lack of significant growth in monetary terms, with Derby County's chairman Mel Morris alleging that Sky should have forked over around £300m for the rights to broadcast games live on their channels.

That will be 28% less per annum than Sky were paying the Premier League in 1997.

— vysyble (@vysyble) August 10, 2017

The Football League have so far failed to officially confirm Sky's successful bid a fortnight after the deadline for tenders passed but, with no other competitors wanting to enter a bidding war with Rupert Murdoch's media giant, it would seem Sky will retain their rights to show live matches.

BT Sport were expected to battle Sky to scoop up the rights, but did not want to stump up a particularly high bid to do so - a decision which has allowed Sky to proceed unopposed.

Morris is the only chairman of a Football League club to lift his head above the parapet and suggest that the Football League should have negotiated a better deal for its clubs, but those pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Papers should tone down the Premier League mania & do more Football League & Non-League content. They'd pick up some loyal readers who care.

— Tom Reed (@tomreedwriting) August 11, 2017

With no second round of bidding taking place, Sky should be installed as chief broadcaster of Football League matches moving forward once the length of the contract is finalised.

Meanwhile, Channel 5 have retained their own rights to broadcast highlights of the Football League on Saturday nights.

Colin Murray, who used to helm the TV channel's UEFA Cup, Europa League and other football coverage between 2006 and 2010 will return to present the programme instead of George Riley and Lindsay Hipgrave.

Murray will host both the Football on 5: The Championship and Football on 5: Goal Rush programmes between 9pm and 10:30pm on Saturdays.