Sky Sports And ITV Announce Agreement In Principle

Sky Sports and ITV have reached an agreement in principle which will give all UK football fans the chance to watch free-to-air coverage of select Carabao Cup and Championship fixtures.

The new deal starts in January 2025, commencing with the Carabao Cup semi-finals, running until the end of the 2026/27 season and means ITV will jointly broadcast a select number of games also available on Sky Sports. The new arrangement has also been approved by EFL Clubs in accordance with the League’s regulations. Each full season, ITV will screen at least nine Carabao Cup matches in total, including:
• one tie from each of the first four rounds
• one additional tie from either the third or fourth round
• two quarter-final ties
• one semi-final tie
• the final

Additionally, ITV will simulcast 10 matches from the EFL Championship each full season, and five matches in the second half of the 2024/25 season, with the option to flex their selection to matches from League One or League Two.

The deal comes as EFL and Sky Sports kick-off their ground-breaking partnership at the start of the 2024/25 season, with over 1,000 matches every season broadcast live - four times as many matches as now and all 72 teams featured over 20 times a season. This huge number of games will be brought to sports fans via Sky Sports+ which comprises multiple live streams, a new dedicated channel and revamped Sky Sports mobile app, all at no extra cost for Sky Sports subscribers. EFL clubs will enjoy unprecedented exposure as a result, and the additional reach of ITV from 2025 ensures more of the action from the League will be available to broader audiences and millions of football fans.

As part of ITV's long-standing partnership with the EFL, it will also be extending its existing EFL highlights deal, beginning at the start of the forthcoming 2024/25 season, by broadcasting 55 highlights programmes per season. These matches and highlights will be shown across ITV1 and ITV4, with simultaneous streaming and on demand viewing available on ITVX.

Jonathan Licht, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: "This momentous upcoming season of over 1,000 matches from the EFL on Sky Sports+ shows our huge ambition and increased dedication to the EFL and its supporters. Working with a free-to-air broadcaster isn’t new for us and many of our partners, as we endeavour to help grow and broaden audiences for sports.
"With ITV set to simulcast a select number of matches from the EFL from 2025 alongside Sky Sports full coverage, it means that millions of football fans in the UK will be able to enjoy plenty of action from the Cup and League, boosting the exposure for clubs which is great news for all."