Sport
EFL fans will be able to watch their team over 20 times a season thanks to new Sky Sports deal
More than 1,000 games outside of the top-flight are set to be shown on TV starting from next season.
The English Football League (EFL) has struck a new deal with Sky Sports to broadcast more than 1,000 games live on TV from next season, with a brand-new channel being added to their overall package, which will let fans watch their club at least 20 times every year.
Better still, the new channel will come at no extra charge to existing Sky Sports customers and help get more eyes on the lower leagues each week.
Making the announcement on Monday, 13 May, the EFL confirmed that there are set to be more games than ever aired by the broadcaster thanks to the new record deal and the introduction of Sky Sports+, a new red-button style channel and streaming service allowing fans more freedom.
Kicking off from 2024/25 and running until 2028/29, the new TV rights deal will see a total of 1,059 EFL matches shown across multiple platforms in a contract worth £895m and £40m in marketing benefits.
Sky’s new EFL deal – the division breakdown
As per the official press release, Sky Sports has promised to broadcast a minimum of 328 Sky Bet Championship matches, 248 League One matches and the same number of League Two matches.
In addition to the normal season fixtures, they will also be delivering every playoff game throughout the EFL, as well as all of the 93 Carabao Cup and 127 EFL Trophy matches for the very first time.
Breaking this down to how this looks each round, this equates to 10 live EFL fixtures shown each weekend: Championship games and another five split between the third and fourth divisions.
According to Sky themselves, this represents “a 50% increase on the value of the current rights agreement and will see significantly enhanced exposure for all EFL clubs provided through on-air and digital support from Sky Sports to promote EFL competitions, clubs, and community initiatives.”
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With the 3pm/Article 48 TV blackout remaining in Britain, this means that more games will be scheduled outside of this time zone, however, they are also promising to give better notice periods for fixtures selected for TV broadcast and Sky Sports+ coverage.
The new Sky x EFL deal will also ensure that all opening, final day and midweek fixtures in the Sky Bet EFL will be shown live, as well as all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and lower league fixtures pencilled in for the international breaks.
Fans further down the pyramid have been crying out for better visibility when it comes to their clubs for years, making this a landmark moment in the history of English football, but one that still goes to show just how much TV rights and the entertainment industry continues to dominate the beautiful game.
Still, more games for everyone to enjoy on the telly – that’s a good thing, right?
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Featured Images — Puma/EFL/The Manc Group
Sport
Streamer AngryGinge ‘arrested and banned’ from Silvestone at the British GP
Danny Jones
Popular Manc influencer, ‘AngryGinge’, was arrested, fined and ultimately banned from Silverstone at this year’s British GP.
The Salford-born Twitch streamer, YouTuber and social media personality (real name Morgan Burtwhistle) was detained at the circuit after being arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
Ginge recently starred in Soccer Aid 2025 and is a well-known face both on the internet and in the sporting world, regularly working in and around football, and is an avid Manchester United – even featuring in the club’s third kit launch video last year.
The 23-year-old and two other fellow streamers, ‘Chazza’ and ‘Samham’, were accused of criminal damage after sitting in an F1 car whilst recording around the Silverstone complex.
According to reports, Ginge and his peers were alleged to have broken part of a display vehicle.
The local lad claimed they had been asked to pay £30,000 in compensation; national outlet talkSPORT has since confirmed the story with Northampton Police (NP) via an official statement.
“On Friday, July 4, NP received a report that a classic Formula 1 car on display at Silverstone Circuit during the British Grand Prix event had sustained several thousands of pounds worth of damage, which was alleged to have been caused by someone accessing the display stand and climbing into the vehicle.
“Officers carried out initial inquiries, and suspects were identified. Three men, aged 23, 25 and 27, were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a vehicle and taken into police custody.
“Following a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident, all three men were released with no further action.”
He and his friends have at least seen the funny side, sharing snaps from outside Northampton Justice Centre; Ginge even played ‘Locked Up’ by Akon as he walked out on stream in an orange jumpsuit.
Burtwhistle went into more detail on the incident on socials, explaining that the trio were taken away in handcuffs and “locked up” for several hours – 15 hours, according to SamHam (Samuel Imie).
All three individuals deny causing any damage to the racecar, even despite users sharing clips from the livestream footage captured for the Red Bull online Content on the day that many argue incriminates them, or at least sounds like it – we’ll let you watch and decide for yourselves.
Ginge himself went on to detail that ridculousness of the situation, explaining how he was effectively detained for watching someone else climb into the vehicle.
He’ll be dining out in this one for some time, you can be sure of that.
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Featured Images — Soccer Aid/angryginge13 (screenshot via Twitch)/Samham (via X)
Sport
Boxing legend Ricky Hatton is coming out of retirement after more than a decade
Danny Jones
Mancunian and British boxing legend Ricky Hatton MBE is coming out of retirement after more than a decade for his first competitive fight in 13 long years.
This is sure to be one to watch.
The Stockport-born and Hattersley-raised fighter first retired back in 2011, but did flirt with a comeback a year later in what turned out to be a one-off fight and defeat to 35-year-old Ukrainian welterweight, Vyacheslav Senchenko.
‘Hitman’ Hatton also got back in the ring for an exhibition match against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, enduring eight two-minute rounds after a decade away from fighting, but now he’ll be undertaking an official fight over in the United Arab Emirates.
Lacing up his gloves at 46 years old, Hatton will be facing fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah (same age), who was the first professional boxer in the UAE.
The ‘Pride of Hyde’ may have been out of the competitive sporting sphere for a while, but he’s still remained an active figure in the boxing world.
In addition to training his son, Campbell, who has followed in his father’s fighting footsteps, Hatton has continued to coach other young boxing talents from his gym in Tameside, including John Hedges and Chloe Watson.
Campbell, 24, has won 14 of his 16 fights, losing just twice since he began in 2021.
Meanwhile, his dad – who still boasts a record of 45 victories from 48 matches, 32 of which were by knockout – will be once again focusing on getting himself back in fighting shape for the Dubai bout.
The local athlete has done plenty to dispel the old jabs of ‘Ricky Fatton’ in recent times, mind you, having taken his talents as a once-promising young footballer to play in the Manchester Remembers charity match, as well as the aforementioned Barrera exhibition.
Set for this winter, Ricky Hatton will face fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah in a middleweight contest on Friday, 2 December, telling national media via video call in the recent press conference that confirmed he would be coming out of retirement: “What you’re trying to do there for boxing in Dubai is fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Al Dah added: “It will be a true fight, true action. And I will do my best, because everybody in the UAE and the Gulf, they will watch this fight. The place will be sold out, and it will be watched around the world.”
Will those Haymakers still hit like they used to? Well shall see before the end of the year.
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Featured Images — Russell Harry Lee (via Flickr)/Eisa Al Dah (screenshot via Instagram)
