Attendances at midweek games in the Sky Bet Championship have dropped since the league took the decision to stream them online and make them available via Sky Sport's red button service, reports SportBusiness.
Analysis from The Times indicates that crowds for the first three rounds of midweek fixtures of this season fell by 8.8 per cent against weekend fixtures, compared with a drop of 4.5 per cent for last year.
Starting this season, fans of the league have been offered the chance to watch midweek matches through both the Sky Sports red button and the EFL's iFollow streaming service. The streaming service, which has been joined by 58 clubs, also streams all of the league's games internationally.
The EFL said it would continue to monitor attendances but remained committed to the principle of broadcasting games online where possible on the grounds that it extends choice to fans and provides an additional source of revenue for clubs.
"The EFL are committed to promoting live attendances and if there are any significant reductions this will be looked at," said the chief executive Shaun Harvey. "We recognise that there could be an impact, but finding an exact comparison is very difficult due to a wide range of factors including differences in the opposition, team form and even the weather."