Football these days is financially driven, and those finances are primarily driven by broadcasting rights. The value of the broadcasting rights to the Premier League are amongst the highest of any sport.
With City’s relegation, we are now in the English Football League (EFL) and whilst there are broadcasting rights for Championship matches, the worldwide business model is quite different.
For most UK-based City fans, the changes include a different schedule of live TV coverage on Sky TV, no live coverage of league matches on other UK channels, and a highlights programme on ITV that is rather more the traditional ‘here are the goals’ highlights than Match of the Day. For fans in the Leicester area, live commentary is available on Radio Leicester, but broadcasting rights agreements mean that cannot be accessed over the internet.
The other main change concerns the live streaming arrangements on the Club’s website. For UK residents, the Foxes Hub allows the chance to watch live Championship matches which are not at 3pm on Saturday or being shown live on UK TV. In addition, there is the possibility to listen to the Club’s own live audio commentary.
Live audio was available in the Premier League, too, but it now costs £4.50 for a monthly pass or £45 for the year, whereas it was free in the Premier League. We asked the club why there is a fee for the Foxes Hub audio. The answer is that EFL rules do not allow clubs to provide the service for free. Checking the websites of the other Championship teams showed that some still use iFollow, which was a platform for such things set up a while ago, most now have bespoke branded services like the Foxes Hub. All charge about the same for audio and video access.
The other difference this year, we understand, is that not all U-21 matches will be shown live on the Hub. This, apparently, is because the number of viewers for many games last season was very low.