Sky Sports blasted by livid EFL followers who had been left unable to look at video games after broadcaster CRASHES
EFL fans have been left furious after Sky Sports’ live coverage of their games went down in a crash that has affected swathes of viewers.
Supporters had sat down to watch Tuesday evening’s matches across the Championship, League One, League Two and the EFL Trophy, offered via the broadcaster’s Sky Sports+ channel.
But many reported that they were confronted with a message that read: ‘Unfortunately playback is not possible due to a technical problem. Please try again later.’
Fans attempting to view games such as Notts County vs MK Dons, Doncaster Rovers vs Stockport as well as Swindon vs Cheltenham reported problems.
One disgruntled Portsmouth fan, who was unable to watch their team’s match against Swansea, posted to X: ‘[Sky Sports] it appears that my Twitter feed is full of smug people with illegal streams of the Portsmouth game working perfectly. Whereas I, who pays you a fortune each month can’t appear to watch the game!!’
EFL fans were left furious after Sky Sports’ coverage of Tuesday evening’s matches crashed
Another fan wrote: ‘Pay a fortune for Sky Sports and it’s so poor when watching EFL on the red button.’
A third added: ‘[Sky Sports] what is going on with your red button on SS+, I subscribed to sky to get EFL and you can’t get it right.’
One Swindon fan fumed that they were unable to watch their team, saying, ‘It’s ok Sky I didn’t want to watch my efl team in action tonight,’ alongside an angry emoji.
Some supporters who couldn’t watch matches resorted to reposting videos on X of the evening’s goals posted by accounts with access to overseas streams.
A fan said: ‘Sky sports+ down, app down. “Try again later” what when the match has finished? Jokers.’
Another wrote: ‘Thanks Sky Sports! Settle down to watch my team play tonight, and your streaming service stops working!’
Sky Sports announced that they had extended their deal to show EFL matches for five more years in May 2025, with more than 1,000 games to be broadcast during that time.
‘We believe that fans of all 72 league clubs will benefit with increased coverage across all the leagues and competitions,’ the broadcaster’s managing director Jonathan Licht said after the deal was announced.
‘With four times as many matches than we currently offer, we will capture even more of the excitement created by this unique league – and in a way that will be immediately accessible to millions of supporters.
‘This is the biggest deal in football, in terms of the number of matches being broadcast and we look forward to working with the EFL and its 72 member clubs to give fans the most entertaining viewing experience.’
Sky Sports have been approached for comment.
