Bristol City supporters could watch Championship matches on free TV channel

Bristol City supporters could be afforded the opportunity to watch their team for free as talks are underway to bring the Championship back to terrestrial television.

ITV holds the rights to the English Football League highlights programme which broadcasts at 9.00 pm on a Saturday, but are now in discussions with league broadcaster Sky Sports over showing a handful of games over the course of the 2024/25 season.

According to the I newspaper, discussions have been held between Sky Sports and Channel Four, Channel Five and ITV to show 20 games a season on free TV and it is the later that is winning the race. Sky Sports have paid £935m to show EFL matches over a five-year period but could receive £15m from ITV in exchange for 10 Championship and 10 Carabao Cup matches a season.

The matches would not be exclusive to ITV though and would still be shown either on Sky Sports' main channels or on their Sky Sports + app which launches in August in time for the new season. Should an agreement be made and the deal signed, then live Championship football would return to free-to-air television for the first time since the 2011/12 season.

BBC held the rights back then and similar to what is being arranged now, had 10 Championship games as well as the Football League Show in the evenings. As part of Sky Sports' commitment to showing more games than ever before, a total of 10 matches will be shown every weekend. Five Championship games along with five split between League One and League Two, will be shown on slots of Friday evening, Sunday lunch time as well as three matches taking place at 12.30 pm on a Saturday.

Bristol City supporters will be able to watch their first match of the 2024/25 season as the Sky Sports have committed to showing every game from across the three EFL divisions on the opening weekend. The season will begin on Saturday, August 10 for most clubs with the fixture list released on Wednesday, June 26 at 9.00 am.