ITV will show three live Carabao Cup games – including the final – and five EFL games for the remainder of the season as part of a deal struck with Sky Sports.
All four semi-final two-legged ties will be shown on Sky, but ITV will also screen the first leg of Arsenal v Newcastle on Tuesday January 7 and the second leg of Liverpool v Spurs on Thursday February 6.
ITV is set to simulcast the first of five Championship or EFL games in January too.
Sky remains the main home of the EFL and Carabao Cup with a record-breaking 1,000-plus matches being shown this season as part a five-year deal. But it has decided to sub-let a limited number of games to ITV for this season and next.
Next season ITV will show at least nine Carabao Cup ties and ten matches from the Championship. ITV has the option of swapping its Championship games for League One or League Two matches.
ITV are expected to provide their own pre- and after-match coverage, but it’s not yet clear whether it will just simulcast Sky’s live match coverage. All the ITV games will be broadcast on Sky.
Sky’s new deal this season has seen multiple kick-off times and more games being moved to protect the 3pm Saturday black-out period.
Sky’s coverage has divided opinions among fans with some supporters welcoming the huge choice of games, especially full midweek rounds being available. Others have bemoaned the more regular switching of kick-off times including more Saturday 12.30pm, Sunday 3pm and Monday and Thursday 8pm games. Some viewers have also complained about technical issues when multiple games are screened on Sky.
ITV’s addition of EFL competitions is a boost to its football portfolio having lost its FA Cup rights which expire at the end of this season.
The broadcaster will be been bolstered in 2025 by the return of England’s Nations League, World Cup and Euro qualifiers after ITV wrestled back those rights from Channel 4.
ITV already has a deal in place to show EFL and Carabao Cup highlights.
