Portsmouth and Wycombe get feedback on 'Innovation Game' experiment as EFL chief provides update on Netflix-style TV plans & Saturday blackouts rule

TV coverage of the Blues’ League One trip to Wycombe on Sunday included additional features such as on-pitch audio, dressing-room footage and other behind-the-scenes access like exclusive interviews and club personnel on co-commentary duties.

The EFL is currently considering the future direction of its broadcasting and, last month, issued a Request For Proposal (RFP), inviting interested media companies to come forward with new ways of presenting the league on television and streaming platforms from the 2024-25 season.

The results are being analysed and come against a background of the EFL’s growing fanbase.

More than 550,000 season tickets have been sold this season, which is the highest total from any league campaign in the past 22 years.

And former Blues administrator Birch believes now is the time to think outside the box in terms of what future viewing experiences might look like.

‘It (the Wycombe v Pompey game) added a bit more of an interest to the whole day and gave people a better perspective of what happens on a match day,’ said Birch.

‘It was things like the little cameo with the referees, seeing the managers before the game, the cameras in the dressing room, and then the on-pitch interviews. I just thought it brought it alive.

‘Even though it wasn’t comprehensive in terms of what you might be able to do, it certainly showed the potential of how telling a bit of a story around the game, around the club, can certainly enhance the viewing of the game.

‘We have seen from many of these Netflix series that if you put a narrative around the club, it definitely generates greater interest. It is an additive to the experience of attending games.

‘Under the current contract, we probably can’t do too much more than that because it does actually take time, effort and cost to put something on like that.

‘I suspect there won’t be too many more (before the end of 2023-24), but it was an example of what you could do with a game if you were to apply a little bit more impetus to it.’

As part of finding solutions which cater for changing viewer habits, lifting the Saturday 3pm screening blackout is one option the EFL could consider in the future.

Under Article 48 of UEFA regulations, domestic associations are allowed to impose a broadcasting block which is designed to protect live attendance at matches throughout the football pyramid, although it was temporarily lifted during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Birch stressed: ‘To be honest, it is too early to add too much colour around that (future plans). We are assessing what we have received and deciding what the next stage of that proposal will be.’