THE Football Association has confirmed that both games on Non League Finals Day at Wembley will be screened on TNT Sports.
The back-to-back finals will be live on TNT Sports 4 and TNT’s streaming service discovery+
TNT have shown the games for a number of years, but TNT has screened no non-league football this season after it opted not to renew its contract for live coverage of the National League, rights which streaming service DAZN eventually picked up.
But the FA have now confirmed both matches will be on TNT as usual.
DAZN has revealed its first three main matches to be shown – but bizarrely they won’t actually be available through DAZN to start with!
Such was the lateness of the deal with the streaming service after TNT Sports’ long-running agreement came to an end, DAZN’s matches will initially be available via the existing National League TV service set up by the league. The plan is to incorporate it into the DAZN’s app later in the season as an add-on channel.
A spokesman for the National League explained: “Until the Vanarama National League is available on the DAZN platform, fans will continue to sign up to NLTV in order to watch these enhanced games, and all other National League matches.”
There’s no Saturday 3pm blackout in operation for the opening weekend due to there not being a full fixture list as the Premier League doesn’t quick off until a week later. That means all National League top division opening day games will be streamed as well as three from the National League North and South leagues.
DAZN’s first “enhanced production” match will be Southend v York City which with no blackout will remain at 3pm. It’s not clear yet whether DAZN’s main matches will have as many cameras or on-site presentation like TNT Sports’ coverage.
The National League say DAZN will produce and livestream each of its games. A weekly main match with enhanced production with be shown with all others falling outside the 3pm Saturday blackout being streamed although those matches are likely to just be a single-camera production.
League officials say National League TV will be incorporated into the DAZN platform sometime in the autumn.
DAZN’S “ENHANCED PRODUCTION” MATCHES (ONLY AVAILABLE ON NLTV)
SATURDAY AUGUST 10
3PM SOUTHEND V YORK NATIONAL LEAGUE (NATIONAL LEAGUE TV)
BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY (AUGUST 26)
3PM WOKING V HARTLEPOOL NATIONAL LEAGUE (NATIONAL LEAGUE TV)
SATURDAY AUGUST 31
5.30PM SUTTON V FOREST GREEN NATIONAL LEAGUE (NATIONAL LEAGUE TV)
STREAMING service DAZN has struck a late deal to show live National League games.
As previously revealed by Footie On TV, non-league’s top-flight looked like kicking off with no broadcast partner in place after long-term rights holder TNT Sports’ four-year deal expired at the end of the season.
But as well as showing one main match each week, it appears DAZN will be taking over the National League’s in-house streaming service (which shows games being played out of the 3pm Saturday ‘blackout’ period).
According to The Non-League Paper , DAZN will:
– select one game a week for full multi-camera coverage (similar to TNT Sports’ previous deal).
-stream all games across three divisions globally which are played outside the Saturday blackout period.
-screen all play-off matches.
-and offer season, monthly and day pass subscription options.
DAZN will offer a National League TV channel as part of its app (as it does with other leagues and sports it has the rights to). Such is the lateness of its deal, early season midweek matches look set to continue under the league’s in-house streaming service before being integrated into the DAZN set-up later in the season.
It’s not clear yet whether DAZN will continue with TNT’s regular spot of 5.30pm Saturday matches for the main matches, but it has agreed a seven-year deal with the National League.
National League boss Mark Ives said: “We are incredibly excited about this groundbreaking long-term joint venture with DAZN, one of the biggest players in sports broadcasting and the deal demonstrates the continuing growth and reach of the National League.
“The global exposure DAZN will bring the League and our clubs cannot be overstated. DAZN will be using their vast expertise in sports broadcasting and streaming to allow fans in both the UK and internationally to access live matches across all connected devices like never before.”
DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev commented: “DAZN’s technology makes us uniquely placed to create destinations for sports fans, and this multi-year partnership will allow us to create a global home for the National League, helping fans better access the teams they are so passionate about, while creating engagement opportunities to access new audiences.
DAZN is best known in the UK for its boxing coverage and despite a lot of hype suggesting it would bid for UK Premier League and EFL TV rights such deals have never materialised.
DAZN broadcasts through its app which is available on desktop, smart TVs, IOS, Android, Sky, Virgin Media, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick and games consoles.
UPDATED: DAZN SEALS DEAL TO SHOW NATIONAL LEAGUE TV GAMES HERE
The article below was written two weeks before the National League struck a new deal with DAZN.
NON-LEAGUE football’s top division looks set to start the new season without live TV coverage for the first time in years with its deal with TNT Sports seemingly at an end.
The National League’s four-year deal with TNT Sports for live rights and highlights expired at the end of the season and all the indications are that the two sides have failed to reach an agreement to extend it.
TNT inherited the contract when it took over BT Sport’s portfolio of channels and neither the National League or TNT Sports have made any comment so far on whether it would continue into the new season.
But the clearest indication yet that the partnership is now at an end came when the National League removed TNT Sports’ logo from its images of partners and sponsors on the foot of its official website. It has since been restored, but with no link to TNT. Other broadcast pages are showing out-of-date information.
Before BT Sport and TNT Sports, the National League was shown on Setanta and at one stage Sky. The league has its own streaming service to show top division and selected North and South league midweek games and others which fall outside the 3pm Saturday TV blackout period.
It’s not yet clear yet whether the league will attempt to secure a new TV partner. TNT had the rights to show up to 45 games a season and also produced a weekly highlights show which was also available on YouTube.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW EFL TV DEAL AND WHEN FIXTURE CHANGES WILL BE ANNOUNCED HERE
The National League returns on Saturday – with BT Sport again providing exclusive live coverage of non-league football’s top-flight for a seventh successive season.
BT has confirmed its first set of fixtures to be screened through to the New Year. Around 30 matches will be shown live across the season as well as all the play-off games.
To mark the return of non-league’s top division, BT Sport Films has produced Proud to be Town, a special behind-the-scenes documentary which will air on the eve of the season. It follows Harrogate Town’s promotion to the EFL from the National League during the coronavirus-hit end to last season. It’ll also be available on demand online and via the BT Sport app.
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED EFL TV GAMES LISTED HERE THURSDAY APRIL 23 8PM SALFORD V BURNLEY EFL (SKY SPORTS FOOTBALL/MAIN EVENT) FRIDAY APRIL 24 8PM LEICESTER V MILLWALL EFL (SKY SPORTS FOOTBALL) SATURDAY APRIL 25 EFL ON SKY SPORTS 12.30PM SKY SPORTS FOOTBALL/MAIN EVENT WEST BROM V ISPWICH SKY SPORTS+ MIDDLESBROUGH V WATFORD CHARLTON V HULL STOCKPORT…
SATURDAY MAY 9 12.30PM LIVERPOOL V CHELSEA PL (TNT SPORTS 1) Could move to 8pm if Liverpool reach Champions League semi-finals. 5.30PM MAN CITY V BRENTFORD PL (SKY SPORTS PL/MAIN EVENT) SUNDAY MAY 10 2PM NOTTINGHAM FOREST V NEWCASTLE PL (SKY SPORTS PL/MAIN EVENT) 4.30PM WEST HAM V ARSENAL PL (SKY SPORTS PL/MAIN EVENT) MONDAY…
FRIDAY MAY 1 8PM LEEDS V BURNLEY PL (SKY SPORTS PL/MAIN EVENT) SATURDAY MAY 2 12.30PM ASTON VILL V SPURS PL (TNT SPORTS 1) Could move to Sunday 7pm if Villa in Europe previous Thursday. 5.30PM ARSENAL V FULHAM PL (SKY SPORTS PL/MAIN EVENT) SUNDAY MAY 3 3.30PM MAN UNITED V LIVERPOOL PL (SKY SPORTS…
