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Wanderers chief executive Neil Hart believes the new £935million broadcasting deal in the EFL is a positive step for football – but has warned fans that change is on the horizon.
A record TV deal was agreed last month which will kick in at the start of the 2024/25 season which will guarantee more than 1,000 games are beamed live or via streaming platforms.
Five Championship games and five games from Leagues One and Two will be shown live or streamed each week, which guarantees Bolton extra commercial exposure.
But Hart admits the structure of the deal places slightly more importance on getting promotion next season for maximum financial benefit.
“From our point of view, and from football’s point of view, we have pushed the dial forward financially, so this is worth about a billion pounds over the period. The deal has gone up by about 50 per cent, which is great,” he told The Bolton News.
“There is a credible partner in Sky, which is the best partner who have been covering the league for 20-odd years.
“Things won’t change this season, we are as we are for 2023/24. It will kick in for 24/25 and it is a five-year deal.
“It will bring some changes in the way games are broadcasted. And, clearly, we would benefit more if we were in the Championship.
“I think we do very well with iFollow at the moment, so I am less convinced that we will benefit quite as much as a League One club. But there is a secondary benefit – even if we stay in this division – and that is we will be on Sky more, so that gives us more exposure to sponsors, commercial partners, and allow us to lift those values.”
Hart reckons the main change that fans will see when the new deal kicks in will be a spread of fixtures across the weekend, meaning Saturday afternoon football will become more of a rarity.
“All in all I think it is a good deal,” he said. “I think the fans might have to get their heads around some of the scheduling. Kick off times will change, and I think there is a Thursday and a Monday slot for League One, which will be very different.
“But as someone who worked at a Premier League club before coming here, for eight years, you kind of get used to that. You go with it because you see the value of it.
“Of course it is not always convenient, going down to Spurs on a Monday night, but overall I think it is a positive for football. It secures the next five years for the EFL and the money is really good.
“There will be more broadcasting and streaming opportunities, so I think it is a positive step.”
The club plan to relaunch their own streaming service next season, with the introduction of Wanderers TV. And Hart says the EFL broadcasting agreement will not affect their plans greatly, as it does not affect their huge international audience.
“The important thing to note is that this is a domestic broadcast deal, not an international one, and it doesn’t stop us continuing to broadcast internationally,” he added.
“We have a huge number of Bolton fans and supporters’ groups around the world, and all of them will still be able to stream the game via Wanderers TV even as part of this broadcast deal.”
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