Sky Sports announce big change that affects Blackpool, Barnsley, Charlton Athletic and rivals

Blackpool have learned more about what the £935m deal that the English Football League agreed to with broadcaster Sky Sports.

The EFL which is paying £340m more from its previous deal will continue to be the main broadcaster for the Championship, League One and League Two. As a result, more games than ever will be shown, and on Wednesday afternoon Sky Sports gave us a bit of an insight in to how it will all work out.

New app launched

Sky Sports announced that they will be launching a new app, called Sky Sports +. It will be part of the Sky TV set up, and will act as an extra channel on the boxes, as well as appearing on NOW TV and a revamped Sky Sports mobile app. They say that up to 100 live events could run on the app at one time, with there being more choice than ever, as well as a better user experience, such as being able to pause, rewind and other interactive features.

Sky Sports + is effectively replacing iFollow. iFollow was a prominent feature for supporters during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 season because of supporters not being able to attend games because of COVID-19 restrictions. A select few clubs did have their own platforms with Blackpool's called Tangerine TV.

Tangerine TV and other platforms will still exist for those outside of the United Kingdom, but in the UK it will be limited to just audio commentary.

League One fixture scheduling

The EFL has made a commitment to show 10 live matches and six of those will take place on Saturday at 12.30 pm. Three Championship games will kick off at that time as well as two matches each from League One and League Two.

Four other matches will be shown on Sky Sports over the weekend, though those selections are usually reserved for Championship matches. Every single League One and League Two team will be featured live on Sky at least 20 times next season.

A majority of matches won’t be moved and will kick off at the traditional kick-off time of 3.00 pm on a Saturday. As mentioned above though, four clubs each weekend will have their games streamed at a Saturday lunch time kick off.

Sky Sports have a commitment to cause minimal disruption to supporters when it comes to their television selections. All live matches selected for broadcast up until the FA Cup third round which is usually the second week of January will be before the start of the season. League games in August and September will come out by early July, and there will be a greater parity for the amount of times a club is selected, so it won't be the same team every week.

It was confirmed by the EFL that Blackpool would learn of their 2024/25 fixture schedule on Wednesday, June 26 at 9.00 am.

What Blackpool matches can I watch?

The 2023/24 League One season begins on Saturday, August 10 and whether they are home and away, Blackpool's match will be able to be streamed from the comfort of your own arm chair.

The 3.00 pm blackout - which is officially referred to as Article 48 - will remain in place, but not for the first weekend of the season. All games across the Championship, League One and League Two will be shown. Fans can also watch all midweek games, as well as matches on Bank Holidays like Easter, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, as well as their final game of the campaign.

For the first time, Carabao Cup matches are available for streaming to supporters, whilst the Bristol Street Motors Trophy will also be streamed on the Sky Sports + platform.

How much will it cost?

Sky Sports say all of this will come at no extra cost if you are a Sky Sports subscriber. For fans that aren’t subscribed to Sky Sports but want to watch their team, they can buy a Now TV which is a one-off payment of £14.99, or you can by a month membership which is £34.99 a month or £26 for a six-month Saver Membership. It’s a slight increase from the £9.99 you’d pay for a Match Pass on iFollow.