By Kieran Maguire

17th May, 2023 | 4:34pm

Kieran Maguire warns Sunderland after record deal agreed

Sunderland should be wary of a gap between the Championship and League One after the EFL’s £935million TV deal.

That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the financial distribution of the EFL’s new broadcast deal.

The EFL announced on 5 May that they have agreed a £935million deal with Sky Sports over a five-year period.

The agreement will see over 1,000 matches broadcast each season, including 328 Championship matches, 248 League One matches and all 93 Carabao Cup matches.

It marks a 50 per cent value increase on the EFL’s current broadcast deal, and the number of matches set to be broadcast sets a new record for any football agreement.

Sunderland only gained promotion to the Championship in 2022 and they will remain in the EFL next season after suffering a 3-2 aggregate Play-Off loss to Luton Town on Tuesday (16 May).

Maguire believes that the new deal could cause a financial gap between the second and third tier if money isn’t distributed proportionally.

“I think the new deal indicates the strength of the EFL that they were able to sell their rights at a time when other sports are struggling to get increased fees,” Maguire told Football Insider.

“I think there will be a new normal as far as fans are concerned as there will now be five matches taking place at 12.30 and 5.30 pm on Saturdays.

“The EFL are fully aware that attendance figures have been really positive because of the quality of the product, but this could knock those numbers.

“There could also be a negative knock-on effect in terms of creating a big gap between the Championship and League One.

“My concern is that it will create a significant financial gap between the two divisions and it can be argued that we’re moving towards the Championship becoming a second Premier League.“

In other news, Sunderland to bank £13m as crackdown revealed