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The EFL is back this weekend, and the Championship looks set to be just as thrilling — and unexpected — as ever. But the one substantial difference with the 2024/25 season is that you'll be able to live stream every Carabao Cup match from home, on your tablet, or smartphone for the first time.
Whether you're hoping to see Leeds United promoted to the Premier League, want to see Wayne Rooney steer Plymouth Argyle away from choppy waters, or watch Deadpool star Ryan Reynold's Wrexham AFC compete for a historic hat trick of promotions in real-time before the next season of Welcome To Wrexham ...it's now possible to stream the action from 92 league football grounds across the UK.
It's all thanks to the launch of Sky Sports+.
This isn't a new streaming service, but an upgrade to the existing Sky Sports line-up. Available at no extra cost to all existing Sky Sports subscribers — whether you're watching on Sky Glass, Sky Stream, older Sky Q set-top boxes, or NOW apps, formerly NOW TV — you'll be able to stream four times as many matches from the EFL than last season, with all 72 teams featured over 20 times during the season.
Anyone with the entry-level Sky TV package will be able to watch the first fixture of the new season, which will be simultaneously broadcast on Sky Sports and Sky Mix on August 9.
While Sky Sports+ doesn't cost a penny more for existing subscribers on Sky TV or NOW, the broadcaster has celebrated the launch of its supercharged new offering with its "lowest ever price" for new customers.
Existing subscribers to Sky Sports on NOW TV, Sky Glass, Sky Stream, and Sky Q will be able to watch 1,000 additional footballs without spending an extra penny
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As you'd expect, Sky TV has spent months scaling up its commentary teams in order to have enough people to be able to report live on hundreds of new fixtures. It's also overhauled its mobile app to make it easier to find live streams, statistics and charts on the matches, and the latest news.
Sky Sports+ will be integrated into the EntertainmentOS software that powers Sky Glass and Sky Stream, as well as the older operating system found on Sky Q and all Sky Sports mobile applications — so that everyone has an identical viewing experience
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New personalisation features will let you follow your favourite teams and competitions more easily. Not only that, but there's also a revamped multi-sports scores section that'll offer fixtures, live scores, and an extended view beyond the usual seven-day football calendar.
Sky has also used the opportunity to add Dark Mode, which it tells GB News was one of the most-requested features from its subscribers. Sky has timed the launch with the beginning of the English Football League (EFL) season this weekend, bringing every game across the Championship, League One, and League Two streamed on telly — a broadcast first.
Sky Sports has agreed a deal with the EFL to broadcast hundreds of additional matches across its channels, something that has pushed the broadcaster into a new streaming model
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With such a dizzying number of fixtures planned and only 12 Sky Sports channels available, the majority of matches available via Sky Sports+ will be live streamed, so you'll need a decent broadband connection.
Sky Sports+ will still be available to watch as a linear channel from the TV Guide, but the vast majority of matches will only be accessible via live streams triggered by the Red Button or the Sky Sports tab on your set-top box.
These extra fixtures will be streamed via a broadband connection with all of the trimmings you'd expect from Sky TV, including the ability to pause and rewind live coverage.
That wasn't possible with the additional coverage broadcast via the Red Button on earlier iterations of the Sky Sports channels.
Sky tells GB News that it has been working on the underlying technology — which can now juggle 100 streamed matches concurrently — for the past year ahead of the announcement of its rebooted Sky Sports. Sky Sports+ sets the foundation ahead of an additional 100 Premier League matches coming to Sky TV next season, bringing its total to a record minimum of 215 exclusive Premier League games.
With the launch of Sky Sports+ in August, the team at Sky TV has taken the opportunity to completely overhaul the Sky Sports app on Android and iPhone
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The Recap functionality currently available for Premier League and Championship games will also be made available for EFL games shown on the Sky Sports+ linear channel.
For those who don't know, Recap is only available for the duration of the match and lets you scroll through a timeline of highlights that you might've missed if you're joining late.
The timeline also has key information, like match time, type of event, player information, and team logo.
As part of the Sky Sports+ launch, NOW members will also be able to pause and rewind live sports content for the first time. The slew of new functionality for NOW viewers might explain the recent price increase for the contract-less service.
On August 10, Sky Sports fans can look forward to 30 matches across all three divisions broadcast either on Sky Sports linear channels or streamed via Sky Sports+. The first game of the season on August 9 will also be broadcast on Sky Showcase and Soccer Saturday will air on Sky Mix.
Over the course of the next year, Sky Sports+ will offer 1,000 matches from the EFL, every fixture from the Men’s Super League, coverage of ATP and WTA Tours, and more. With live pause and rewind available across all of these streams, you'll be able to enjoy all of the control and flexibility that Sky is known for. With such a torrent of new sports fixtures coming to Sky TV set-top boxes, the team at Sky has updated user its interface to make it easier to browse, discover, and watch your favourite sports.
The complete Sky Sports+ experience will be accessible on NOW, formerly known as NOW TV
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The refreshed sports package isn't just about live fixtures either. Sky Sports+ viewers will unlock access to the latest feature-length documentaries and docu-series from the Sky Documentaries team, such as the much-anticipated Darts documentary, two weeks before anyone else.
The catalogue of documentaries already includes Young Guns: The New Tennis Titans, Hatton, Secrets of Success, Bruno V Tyson, Kenny, Micah Richards: Tackling Racism, and Pushing Boundaries, to name a few.
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Speaking about the launch, Managing Director at Sky Sports, Jonathan Licht said: "Exceptional sport, covered in an innovative and compelling way, has been a big part of our history. With the introduction of Sky Sports+, we are now able to offer sport fans more choice and an even better experience when watching the live action, at no extra cost.
"For the first time, we will broadcast every game live from across the EFL on the opening weekend. It’s going to be a huge moment for football fans up and down the country and is a fitting way to kick off our ground-breaking new partnership with the EFL. And this is just the beginning; Sky Sports+ unlocks the potential for us to keep evolving and finding new ways to deliver brilliant sport to our customers."
