Leeds United could be on TV more than ever after Sky Sports deal confirmed

A new five-year deal between Sky Sports and the English Football League (EFL) will see all midweek matches shown live, meaning Leeds United could be on television more than ever if they remain in the Championship.

Leeds have been almost ever-present on TV screens this season, with a total of 32 games selected for live broadcast over the season including all of the final four league games. That number matches the previous record for the club, set in the 2018/19 season - barring the 2020/21 campaign in which all games were broadcast during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Daniel Farke’s side will hope to be out of the EFL next season but another year in the Championship could see that record broken, with Sky Sports confirming that all midweek fixtures across the second-tier, League One and League Two will be available to watch through their channels.

A Sky Sports statement read: “From the 2024/25 season onward, this agreement makes more matches available to stream and will effectively replace the current Sky Sports EFL red button coverage and the EFL’s domestic streaming option provided via iFollow and club streaming services.

“Domestic streaming audio services will remain alongside existing audio-visual arrangements for international audiences via iFollow and club streaming services.”

All of Leeds’ final four league games have been selected for live television broadcast, fuelling more anger from supporters towards Sky Sports amid a hectic fixture schedule. The most recent example comes via the decision to push the trip to Middlesbrough back to Monday, April 22 while also bringing the following trip to QPR forward to Friday, April 27.

That means that a previous full week of recovery and preparation for the latter trip has been reduced to three full days, with travelling fans now expected to make two long journeys on weeknights. It is the latest in several questionable decisions which have been made to the detriment of Leeds.

In February, Leeds travelled to Plymouth twice as well as Swansea and Bristol, with all games shown live on TV and none in the regular Saturday 3pm slot. Supporters have often made their feelings clear with chants aimed at Sky Sports during the broadcast of their games.

Leeds remain in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League but have just four games to overtake at least one of Leicester City or Ipswich Town, who both sit a point ahead at the minute while the former also have a game in hand.