Sports journalists and photographers will be able to cover the new football season on the web and using social media services under a new deal agreed with football governing bodies.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, representatives of the Premier League and Football League agreed a multi-year rights deal with media organisations including newspapers and newswires such as Reuters after days of tough negotiations.
The sticking point in the talks had been that the previous agreement, drafted back to 2003/04, was not fit for purpose in the digital age of social media and internet coverage. Negotiations had particularly stalled on how much online live engagement media outlets could have during matches.
Previously, journalists were allocated a number of "windows" for online text and pictures to be updated, while there were no provisions for them to interact with fans using Twitter, Facebook or other tools.
The new deal, thought to run for four years, allows journalists to update web stories and interact with fans on social media services whenever they choose, while there will be just a short delay on live minute-by-minute match coverage online.
After talks between the football bodies and media owners stalled last week, journalists and photographers had been facing a lockout from Premier League games on the opening weekend of the new season if the new deal had not been agreed.
The News Media Coalition, which represents various news agencies and led the negotiations, said that the changes would "make a significant improvement to the ability of both its membership and other news organisations to report on the world's most popular sport".
A spokesman added: "We are delighted to have reached agreement with the leagues and look forward to providing fans with the best possible journalistic coverage of the game: match analysis, superb photography, interaction with top journalists and the real stories behind the play.
"[The] agreement will put news-gatherers back in the press boxes at football grounds following a week in which a dispute with the football authorities over accreditation terms and conditions saw the media unable to attend matches.
"The previous agreement, signed in in 2004, was perceived as placing unreasonably restrictive constraints on how news organisations could use and distribute their copyright football content at home and abroad."
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