OPINION
BBC journalist Dan Roan has claimed that the EFL have approved the “highly contentious” £590million Sky deal today, in direct opposition to a breakaway group of Championship clubs that includes Derby, Leeds and Aston Villa.
The rebel clubs had rejected the five-year deal and a shorter three-year compromise deal that the EFL had offered. They wanted the EFL to take a one-year extension while they looked for alternative broadcasting partners that would give the clubs a better deal.
Andrea Radrizzani was reported to be heading up the group after calling for the launch of a Premier League 2 and they have threatened to form a new league if the EFL went ahead with the deal.
Well, the EFL has now seemingly called what they hope is a big bluff from Radrizzani and fellow club chairmen, but this could be the first blow in a hefty battle.
Radrizzani isn’t just a club owner, he’s also the founder of Eleven Sports, a new company that is broadcasting sporting events on a subscription model.
If there’s anyone that knows about broadcasting deals it’s Radrizzani and he hates the one that the EFL has struck and now ratified.
This won’t be the end of it. The EFL are playing a very dangerous game and risking the future of the Championship and many clubs within it.
Senior exec at 1 of the rebel Championship clubs told me that if Sky deal was approved, it was “war”. Likes of Villa, Derby, Leeds believe 5-year deal is too long, too low, & that Sky’s midweek red button option threatens match attendances & undermines their own live-streaming https://t.co/mkld4eD3jF
— Dan Roan (@danroan) November 19, 2018
As Roan said in a tweet on Monday evening, “Senior exec at 1 of the rebel Championship clubs told me that if the Sky deal was approved it was ‘war'”.
For Leeds fans it’s going to be a nervy ride – taking on the EFL just as they look set to have the best chance of winning automatic promotion back to the top-flight since they got relegated.
Leeds fans hope would be that this is a battle they can help to fight from above, looking down from the Premier League in the 2019/20 season, although Roan has said that legal action would seem to be the most obvious next step, before the nuclear option of a breakaway league.
However, if the nuclear option is unleashed, Leeds fans might find themselves in the Premier League 2, with no right of promotion back to the top-flight.
The ball is in Radrizzani’s goalmouth.