EFL to consider lifting Saturday 3pm blackout for fixtures

3pm games could now be made available to watch

The EFL are considering lifting the 3pm Saturday blackout and making every game available to view in their next TV rights deal from the 2024-25 season. The Daily Mail have reported that an invitation to to bid for live rights will be sent out in the next 24 hours, with the likes of Facebook, Netflix, Google, Apple and Amazon all set to be targeted, as well as Sky Sports and BT Sport. Reports have suggested that the document the EFL will send is a request for proposals as oppose to fixed offerings as they look to seek innovative solutions to the way the broadcast market is changing. The board believe that by selling more matches they will be able to get a better deal than the £119m-a-year contract they currently have with Sky and are targeting a deal worth £200m-a-year.

Their current deal with Sky sees the broadcaster show 138 games-per-year across the three divisions, with two Championship matches shown each weekend. The 3pm blackout has been in place since the 1960's and any deal would have to come from the EFL lobbying the Football Association, who would then have to apply to UEFA for an exemption. Currently the blackout only applies when 50 per cent of Premier League and Championship matches are due to kick off at 3pm on a Saturday. Despite the EFL's new thought process the Premier League are not currently looking to follow suit. The top-flight renewed their existing domestic deal with Sky Sports and BT Sport for the 2022-25 seasons in 2021 and still largely support the blackout. On Saturday there will be only two Premier League games that kick off at 3pm (Fulham v Bournemouth and Wolves v Nottingham Forest). Related links: