Carlisle United have welcomed the new Sky deal which will see at least 20 Blues games shown live next season.

Blues directors say they will be better off by about £130,000 next season than they would have been under the previous iFollow system.

Sky are launching a new Sky Sports+ streaming service which will see more than 1,000 EFL games shown live in 2024/25.

United chief executive Nigel Clibbens says the club will "gain financially" from a deal which is 60 per cent bigger than the previous Sky/EFL deal.

He noted that domestic streaming via iFollow will now end, with the club having earned about £164,000 in League Two in 2022/23, and more in League One last season.

“In 2024/25, this will fall to zero. The gain from the TV deal is around £300k per season in League Two, so overall we are better off by around £130k per year in League Two," said Clibbens.

“In terms of games streamed, last season 19 of our games were available in the UK to be streamed live, plus the final game against Derby County which was shown live exclusively on Sky Sports. This excluded the Carabao Cup which was not available in the UK.

“Looking at next season, given the Carabao Cup is included in the deal, the minimum number of live games available in the UK [20] is in-line with last season."

The amount of games to be broadcast means more upheaval than usual with kick-off times.

Sky says all games until January chosen for coverage will be selected before the start of the season, and all games until March will be decided by November.

Clibbens, speaking on United's website, added: "Except for the opening and final games of the season, the arrangements for screening Saturday 3pm kick-offs are unchanged.

"Clearly, to accommodate more live matches whilst retaining the blocked hours, some fixtures will have to be rescheduled away from traditional kick-off times.

"In the past, fans have suffered from late scheduling changes, so we are delighted that the EFL and Sky have committed to announcing all TV fixtures until January at the start of the season.

“Overall, this is the biggest change in EFL broadcasting arrangements in many years. It will increase our income and change the way fans watch games.

"It will be great to see United live on Sky Sports+ next season.”