EFL names its preferred bidder for future TV deal amid promised shake-up

Fans of Yorkshire's Football League clubs do not look as if they will need another subscription to follow their team beyond next season after the League entered into "exclusive" talks with Sky Sports.

With the current five-year deal set to expire in 2024 and the League looking to be bold in the direction it heads in next, streaming services DAZN and Viaplay were thought to have lodged bids, along with BT Sport, which is to be rebranded as TNT.

But on Monday it was announced the League will enter into "an exclusive month-long negotiating period with the preferred bidder, Sky Sports."

The hope is that the next set of rights will earn around £200m a year, up from the current £119m annually to show 138 live games a season.

The League had made it clear all options were on the table for how it approached the next deal, including scrapping the 3pm blackout which prevents any games being televised in Britain between £pm and 5pm to protect lower-league attendances.

DAZN had gone public with its proposal to show all 1,656 matches each season.

Sky's plans have not been made public.

At present, whilst Premier League live games are spread between Sky, BT and Amazon Prime in this country, the Football League's are all via the same broadcaster.

Yorkshire currently has 10 clubs across the Championship and Leagues One and Two - Huddersfield Town, Hull CIty, Middlesbrough, Rotherham United, Sheffield United, Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers and Harrogate Town.