Sky's TV contract with the Football League under scrutiny over lack of 'transparency'
Sky’s TV contract with the Football League is under scrutiny from a discontent Leeds United who are calling for more transparency over the deal.
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The Championship club have taken issue with the control that Sky exerts over fixtures after another of its league games was rescheduled for a Monday night. It had protested the fixture change however the Football League took out an injunction forcing it to go ahead.
The club's owner, Massimo Cellino, has spoken out against such moves, arguing that moving Saturday fixtures to Monday nights harms attendance.
Leeds have called for more “transparency” over the deal and want to negotiate an individual TV contract rather than the collective bargaining method currently used during discussions.
Executive director for the club, Paul Bell, told the BBC that it “has made it clear to both Sky and the League that it opposes the degree of control exercised by Sky over the league fixture list, and seeks transparency as to how these rights have been sold."
The £100m-a-year contract which the league has with Sky has been an issue for Leeds which went so far as to initially refused Sky entry into their home game against Derby on 29 December in protest.
The club said that The Football League has allowed Sky to “unfairly disrupt Leeds United for their own commercial purposes."
That game was moved at less than four weeks' notice, although the Football League previously said this was due to a legal challenge by Leeds.