English Football League (EFL) television rights are set to double in value as a host of broadcasters get ready to challenge Sky Sports.
The cost to secure the TV rights for the Championship, League One and League Two, is expected to double to over £200mln a year, according to the Daily Mail.
The EFL has reportedly been inundated with expressions of interest since the sale process began in October ahead of the invitation to tender next week.
Sky Sports have held the rights since 2002 but will have to almost double their current £119mln-a-year deal to maintain exclusive coverage as the EFL considers a hybrid model involving several broadcasters.
Dazn, which was founded in London and gives its international users access to the Premier League, and Swedish broadcaster Viaplay are rumoured to be interested in the rights.
Next week’s tender will make every EFL game available for purchase, which could lead to the end of the 3pm Saturday blackout.
The EFL believes there is demand for more of its games, with Sky currently only broadcasting 138 games per year, with very few League One and League Two games making the TV screens.
In order to remove the 3pm blackout, the EFL would need permission from the FA and UEFA, although it may face some resistance from the Premier League.
England’s top division believes limiting the number of matches broadcasted increases the value of their rights, albeit all Premier League games are broadcasted live in most countries globally.
This isn’t the first time there has been an attempt on Sky’s stranglehold of the EFL, with the previous effort ending disastrously for all involved.
In the late 90s, an ITV venture, OnDigital, which was later branded ITV Digital, attempted to win the broadcast rights for the EFL.
The digital terrestrial TV platform committed a ton of money which it ultimately could not pay, forcing it into administration in March 2002.
Several attempts were made by administrators to seek a buyer, but just a month later the company was effectively put into liquidation, before formally being liquidated in October 2002 with debts of £1.25bn.
The impact on football clubs was just as deep, with some clubs factoring the promised ITV money into their budgets.
Bradford and Barnsley were both forced into administration in 2002, although many other clubs slashed both playing and non-playing staff as well as hiking ticket prices to make up for the shortfall.
In total, 14 clubs went into administration in the four years after the collapse of ITV Digital compared to four in four years before.