The EFL couldn’t vote to bring back the streams even if it wanted to. Sky are solely in charge of that decision as the rights holder - they call the shots on what anybody else is allowed to broadcast. Last season Sky agreed to waive the restrictions as clubs needed the cash due to no attendances, but now that is gone and the blackout is back. They don’t want anybody not at a game watching a club stream, they want you watching Soccer Saturday as they go ‘around the grounds’. They have sponsors and advertisers and that is their priority, and what funds the hundreds of millions that the EFL (primarily the Championship) is paid for the exclusivity. There is nothing the EFL can do within the existing deal. Clubs can vote all they want, but Sky have a contract. You can’t vote that away.
The real kicker will be when the EFL and Premier League both sign fresh deals under the same draconian terms, because they would rather have a guaranteed cheque paid in full than take the ‘risk’. That’s the biggest problem that football faces - Sky offer jumbo jets filled with cash to an industry that gave up the idea of sustainability years ago, as well as a built-in infrastructure. They pay the money and handle everything logistically, while the EFL / PL just sit back and let them get on with it. The fat cats in suits who just want free meals and a seat in the directors’ box at whatever game they choose that weekend won’t know the first thing about how to set up a platform, nor do they have the desire to learn. They’re here for the steak and the bottle of red, just as they always will be, and there will still be enough punters happy with that. The fact that there are a good handful of people on this forum (based on their own comments on the season tickets thread over the summer) who seem to believe that a little camera pointing at the pitch will destroy the game and lead to empty stadiums is pretty incredible. I can only assume that those same people still use teletext to check the scores and watch Big Break every weekend.
Either way, it’s nothing to do with the EFL as to whether the streams are available this season or not. It’ll only become something that can change when it’s time for a new deal, which I think isn’t for another couple of years. Only Sky can decide to loosen their grip before that, and I don’t know what incentive they have to do so.
VPN.