Sky Sports have announced the launch of Sky Sports+, a new platform giving fans more live sport – and it's going to cost the same as before.
Next season will see fewer kick-offs on Saturdays at 3pm, meaning fewer games behind the blackout – with broadcasters being the big beneficiaries. Sky Sports customers are set to enjoy over 50 per cent more live sport with the introduction of Sky Sports+, with four times as many matches from the Football League.
That means there will be over 1,000 EFL games, with each club getting over 20 matches each – and every match of the opening weekend of the Championship, League One and League Two next season will be streamed live in a broadcasting first. Sky will now have the ability to show 100 live events via concurrent streams, with a dedicated Sky Sports+ channel included.
Sky Sports+ promises to be huge for the EFL
“Exceptional sport, covered in an innovative and compelling way, has been a big part of our history,” Jonathan Licht, Managing Director at Sky Sports, said. “With the introduction of Sky Sports+, we are now able to offer sport fans more choice and an even better experience when watching the live action, at no extra cost.”
“For the first time, we will broadcast every game live from across the EFL on the opening weekend. It’s going to be a huge moment for football fans up and down the country and is a fitting way to kick off our ground-breaking new partnership with the EFL. And this is just the beginning; Sky Sports+ unlocks the potential for us to keep evolving and finding new ways to deliver brilliant sport to our customers.”
Sky Sports+ will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the app – which is set for a massive revamp, too. A dark mode is coming, while there will be access to Sky's documentaries.
Sky says that he viewing experience on the new app will be more immersive for fans, with live pause and rewind available on all streams, and the ‘Recap’ feature – which at the moment, is only available for Premier League and Championship games – will also be made available for all EFL games shown on the Sky Sports+ linear channel.
So not only is this massive for Sky, it's a move towards a kind of football broadcasting that's been talked about for years.
Just how modern football broadcasting really is has been a subject that plenty of viewers have been asking since the rise of streaming services, with the possibility touted that the Premier League could one day embrace its own platform for full coverage.
Today's announcement of Sky Sports+ feels like a step towards the idea of a more personalised product for viewers who wish to follow both teams and competitions more easily, with plenty more football on show in the EFL being a landmark decision for the footballing pyramid. Sky's unrivalled lineup of competitions makes this the biggest thing to happen to football on TV for years – with other sports included in today's announcement.
Every match from the men’s Super League and coverage from the ATP & WTA Tours, US Open, PGA Tour and more, will all be available via live streams. At no extra cost, either – it's a big day to be a Sky subscriber…
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