Accrington chairman Andy Holt has informed the EFL that Stanley no longer wish to participate in the iFollow streaming platform.
Bolton Wanderers are in the same division as Stanley in League One and are due to play the Wham Stadium club away on Saturday, October 22, in the upcoming campaign. Wanderers will host Accrington on Saturday, April 1.
Wanderers supporters and those of other clubs up and down the Championship, League One and League Two became very much accustomed to watching matches via the service in the 2020/21 campaign. It was down to the action taking place largely behind closed doors owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Streaming has now returned to essentially a pre-pandemic level and the measures that were in place before then. Games which kick-off at 3pm on Saturdays are blacked out for a domestic audience, but can be streamed by international viewers.
Midweek evening games in EFL competitions can be streamed if clubs agree to do so. Matches taking place on Saturdays not kicking off at 3pm that had not been chosen for broadcasting by Sky Sports can also be shown on iFollow.
But posting a letter on Twitter sent to EFL chairman Rick Parry, Holt has said that Accrington do not wish to continue with iFollow and has asked the league to cease offering streams of the club's games with immediate effect. Though Holt approves of streaming as a collective, he does not agree with the current iFollow model and how revenue is distributed, suggesting how this could be changed and mirror how proceeds with physical match day tickets or collective TV money is handed out.
He wrote: "I write to inform you that ASFC wants no part in your iFollow operation and as such insists the EFL ceases offering streams of our club with immediate effect. To be clear we want no part in it. We do not want any income from it nor do we want others selling our IP.
"For many years now I have argued that the income distribution is wrong, but the EFL wanders on ignoring the oblivious. The EFL taking our IP and allowing others to sell it for their private profit ends now."
He continued: "I want to place on record that I support streaming as a collective. If the proceeds were split equally as the collective TV deal is or, as with physical match day tickets, the home club got the income, my club would happilly participate.
"Currently the EFL is taking away match day income and taking away our streams against our wishes and allowing others to sell them on for their private gain. I do not know how anyone at the EFL can argue this is right or just.
"Last week the EFL informed us that our Boxing Day fixture against Barnsley is amongst additional fixtures to be streamed against our will. This is not collective in any sense.
"As the saying goes thanks for the offer, but sadly we're out."
The EFL has been approached for comment.
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