Football: League announces lucrative new deal
The Football League has announced a new £24m broadcasting deal which will allow league and League Cup matches to be shown worldwide from the 2009-10 season.
The deal represents a 300% increase on the league's current overseas agreement and will help clubs in the Championship and Leagues One and Two keep afloat. The League confirmed that the money will be split in line with existing arrangements and will see matches televised by six overseas partners.
The Football League signed a record £264m deal with Sky Sports and BBC Sport for domestic broadcasting rights earlier this season and chairman Lord Mawhinney believes the new deals prove that the standard of football has improved.
"The Football League prides itself on producing some of the most competitive and exciting league and cup football in the world game," said Mawhinney.
"These arrangements, which reflect a huge increase in resources for our clubs, demonstrate that the global football audience is increasingly recognising this too.