On Tuesday night fans in the UK will be able to stream 24 matches across three divisions on iFollow but how much will it cost and what will be the impact on the clubs?

What is iFollow and how will it impact the way we watch the Football League?

What’s on offer in this brave new world for EFL fans?



For the first time, supporters based in the UK will be able to stream league matches live using the EFL’s iFollow platform, which is shared by the majority of clubs. It follows the successful roll-out of streaming services for international fans in 2017-18. The new era begins on Tuesday night, featuring 24 of the 26 matches taking place across the three divisions, and to sign up you just need to click here.

Sounds too good to be true! What do I have to pay?

Individual match passes cost £10 – or less than half the cost of a typical matchday ticket.

Does this apply to any EFL fixture, then?

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Not quite. To start with, a number of clubs have not opted in to iFollow. Accrington Stanley, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Bristol City, Charlton Athletic, Derby County, Hull City, Forest Green Rovers, Middlesbrough, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City, Swansea City or Sunderland are the outliers although they are still allowed to stream games via their own websites and digital services. QPR and Bristol City will do exactly that tonight.

What about Saturday 3pm kick-offs? Surely they’re still sacrosanct?

That remains the case. The hours of 2.45pm to 5.15pm on a Saturday remain a no-go zone for televised broadcasts in the UK and there is no appetite among the authorities for that to change at any time soon – although evidence gleaned elsewhere suggests storm clouds may be gathering. So, for the foreseeable future, your best bets are midweek games and weekend fixtures shown at lunchtime or teatime. As long as it’s not a featured game on one of Sky’s flagship channels, iFollow should have it.

Funny you mentioned Sky – doesn’t it have something new up its sleeve too?

It has a new offering specifically for Championship fans – and that also begins on Tuesday night. While one of its main channels shows Swansea v Leeds, the evening’s other three fixtures (QPR v Bristol City, Derby v Ipswich and Rotherham v Hull) can be watched via the red button. A similar setup will apply on Wednesday, when Aston Villa v Brentford is shown on Sky Sports Football and five other games can be access using the red button. This will remain the case during all midweek rounds.

Are there any discernible differences between the iFollow and Sky services?

iFollow proudly claims to have four cameras in situ, whereas the red button games have one. Otherwise, it just depends on how you cost it: if you have Sky’s sport channels, you don’t need to pay anything extra. Just be mindful that the red button is not available if you are watching online via Sky Go – although Sky customers can access the service via the Sky Sports app both on tablet and smartphone.

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This extra access is all well and good – but isn’t there an obvious danger that fans will be deterred from attending games? Who’d travel to watch Exeter at Cambridge on a Tuesday when they can watch at home with a beer?

Nobody can really assess the new service’s impact until it has had time. The EFL treats iFollow as an alternative to matchgoing rather than a replacement, and maintains that the best experiences are to be had when watching in the flesh. If crowds, particularly away attendances, began to drop in the long run then presumably a conversation would need to be had.

What might happen then?

That bridge would need crossing. The NFL used to run home-city – or local market – blackouts if a certain number of tickets had not been sold before a game. Could something like that really be workable now, though?

Finally, what about the financial impact on my club?

The EFL believes this is a revenue opportunity for its members and, again, the proof will be in the pudding. Where Sky’s enhanced service is concerned, it is worth pointing out that the latest broadcasting deal, agreed last year, will bring in a 36% year-on-year increase to the previous arrangement.