New Sky Sports' deal explained and impact on Blackburn fans

Sky and the EFL announced their new five-year partnership with a headline figure of over 1,000 matches available to watch per season.

Whilst that's great for those who want to enjoy the EFL from the comfort of their own home, it's raised some obvious concerns amongst match-going fans.

With more games broadcast than ever before, how much disruption will there be for Season Ticket holders? Is this yet more inconvenient for those parting with their hard-earned money to support their club?

Well, there are obvious upsides and downsides, but the new deal is probably not as unfavourable as you think.

Here's a breakdown of all the most important facts you need to know.

What are the slots available for TV picks?

Next season, there will be five matches across the EFL kicking off at 12:30pm on a Saturday.

You would expect three of those to be Championship matches. There will also be at least one match on a Friday night and Sunday afternoon.

On selected occasions, there might be games on a Monday and Thursday night, though more rarely.

Across these slots, five games will be in the Championship, with five from League One and League Two, with ten shown across the weekend.

That means a typical EFL weekend might have one Championship fixture on a Friday night, three at Saturday 12:30pm and one on Sunday. In reality, that isn't too dissimilar from how it has been for years.

Rovers were shown on Sky Sports nine times last season, in weekend slots. Four of those were Sunday kick-offs, Watford, Leicester, Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday.

Two were at Saturday 12:30pm, both fixtures against Leeds. Preston at Ewood Park was the only Friday night match. The other two were Ipswich on Good Friday and Leicester on final day but they wouldn't need to be moved under the new EFL deal.

So, Rovers fans can expect more Saturday 12:30pm kick-offs and probably a similar number of Sunday games. A few more Friday nights and the odd Monday/Thursday on a rarity. Midweek matches won't be affected.

How many games are likely to get moved?

This is where the EFL hasn't done itself any major favours. The headline figure of '1,000 matches per season' is not as scary as it seems, for the match-going fan.

So within that number, all midweek matches will be available to watch. So they won't be moved but still count towards the '1,000'.

In addition, every fixture on the opening day and final day will be broadcast but not subject to the 3pm blackout. So there is no reason for those to move either.

All Bank Holiday games, such as Easter, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, will be made available and aren't subject to the blackout either so they don't have to be moved. So the ridiculously early trip with a Christmas Day hangover to make a 12:30pm kick-off should be no more.

You've got all of League One and League Two fixtures during the international break, which doesn't impact Rovers remotely.

Then finally, there are all Carabao Cup games, Bristol Street Motors (L1+L2) and play-off matches bundled in too.

That chalks off a massive amount of matches that have to be moved in order to be broadcast.

Is the 3pm blackout still intact?

Yes. Article 48, as it's formally known, still prevents any matches between 2:45pm and 5:15pm from being broadcast in the UK. However, as previously stated, that now won't apply on the opening or final weekend of the season.

That means seven Championship games every weekend will still be a 3pm Saturday kick-off.

When will we get notice of fixtures being moved?

This is the big benefit of the new Sky deal. Alright, you might have to get to Ewood Park a bit earlier more often, but you'll know about it well in advance.

As part of the new deal, Sky and the EFL have reached an agreement to ensure fans get far better notice when matches are being moved. The current agreement is for five weeks' notice to be given.

By July 3, seven days after fixture release day, all selections will be publicised up until the end of September.

Before the season starts (August 9), all selections will be publicised up until the FA Cup third round, which is January 2024. That gives up to four months' notice of fixtures being altered.

By November 1, all matches selected between January and the first weekend of March will be revealed.

After that, matches will be announced on a four-week rolling basis. That is to ensure Sky Sports are showing the best games, between teams that still have plenty riding on it. Which is fair enough, you don't know which teams will be battling promotion/relegation in November.

What is the benefit to Blackburn Rovers?

The deal overall is worth £935million to the EFL, split between £895m in right fees plus £40m in marketing benefits. It runs for five years, from 2024/25 to 2028/29.

That represents an uplift of around £60m per season to the EFL. It is an increase of 60 per cent and this new model allows for more clubs to be broadcasted, increasing their exposure.

Rovers have invested between 500K to £1m, depending on uptake, of that revenue in subsidising Season Ticket costs.

How do I access these matches?

All matches will be broadcast on the existing Sky Sports channels or, their new Sky Sports +. This will be available at no extra cost to customers with a full Sky Sports subscription.

Sky Sports + will replace iFollow or any club streaming service. Any matches that would've been eligible to be shown on those platforms will be available on Sky Sports +.