BT Sport has renewed its rights to broadcast the Vanarama National League for a further three years.

The sports network has been providing coverage of the competition since 2013, and under the terms of the new agreement, BT Sport will broadcast matches in a regular Saturday slot until 2024.

Presenter Matt Smith will lead the coverage, which will follow the regular season race plus the end-of-season play offs.

Smith will be joined by commentators Adam Summerton and Adam Virgo, whilst former Norwich City striker Grant Holt, former Torquay United manager Chris Hargraves and ex-Southport manager Kevin Davies will provide punditry, and Natalie Quirk and Becky Ives will join the team as reporters.

In 2018, the National League revamped the play-off format to include the top seven teams in the division. In the new model, fourth to seventh placed teams face off in the elimination rounds, with the winners from each leg progressing to the semi-finals against teams in second and third place.

The winner of the play-off final then joins the league leaders in gaining promotion to the EFL League Two.

Head of BT Sport, Simon Green, said: “Over the past few years we’ve developed an innovative relationship with the league, including world-first 5G-enabled remote broadcasts and training local students who help create BT Sport’s National League highlights shows. 

“The National League remains a valued partner to BT, particularly during the pandemic, in staging last season’s playoff matches and the 2020-21 season.”

In addition to live match coverage, BT Sport will also carry the Vanarama National League Highlights Show, produced alongside students, who receive broadcast training from BT.

Brian Barwick, Chairman of the National League, commented: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with BT Sport. Their coverage of the Vanarama National League has been simply outstanding.

“Informed and comprehensive, our League has been broadcast in a highly polished and professional fashion. A lot of hard work over the last past seven years has produced some exceptional television.

“The new three-year contract will take us into over a decade of coverage by BT Sport. This speaks volumes for the confidence we have in how our matches have been brought to an established and growing audience”.

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