First weeks of sky live games update and more

The first round of Championship games that will be shown live on Sky will be confirmed within a week of the release of the 2024/25 fixtures, which takes place at 9am on Wednesday (June 26).

Part of Sky Sports and the EFL's landmark new commitment is to ensure clubs and fans will be provided longer notice periods on TV selections.

So within seven days of the release of the season’s fixtures, selections shall be made in respect of all matches to be played before the end of September.

Then, before the start of the season, selections will be made in respect of all matches scheduled to be played prior to the end of the third round of the FA Cup in early January.

By November 1, selections will confirmed in respect of all matches to be played between the end of the Third Round proper of the FA Cup and the first weekend of March.

Selections for matches scheduled after the first weekend in March will be made on a four-week rolling basis starting from February 1 (ie, a selection for the first weekend in April will be selected in the first weekend in March).

The first round of fixtures will take place over the weekend of August 2024 10/11, although the EFL have not said if any Championship games will be played on the Friday night as has been the case in previous seasons.

One thing that does seem certain is that none of the first-day Championship fixtures will be played at 3pm on Saturday August 10, because the new agreement allows for all opening-day fixtures to be shown live but the rule around no live games at 3pm remains in place.

Therefore, it seems likely the bulk of the first games will perhaps take place at lunchtime on August 10, as they did for the final day of last season in May.

This season, all Championship games on the final day will be broadcast live, so that’s likely to be another occasion when matches are not played at 3pm on Saturday.

Live matches will be broadcast across both existing Sky Sports channels and on the brand-new Sky Sports+, via live streams, a new dedicated channel, and a revamped app for TV and mobile devices.

Regular weekend slots for matches in all three EFL divisions will include:

- Approximately five matches on a Saturday lunchtime (12.30pm kick-off)

- Frequent slots on a Friday night and Sunday afternoon (12.30pm kick-off)

- Additional selected picks on a Thursday and Monday night

There will be 10 regular weekend games shown live across the three divisions:

- Five Championship matches

- Five matches across League One and League Two

From the start of this coming season, all of the following will be shown live by Sky:

- All opening and final day games

- All midweek league fixtures

- All bank holiday fixtures including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day

- All fixtures played in League One & Two during international breaks

- All Play-Off, Carabao Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy fixtures

The 46 rounds of Championship matches will take place across 33 weekends, nine midweeks and four Bank Holidays in the Championship.

The format of the Carabao Cup remains unchanged, with games beginning in mid-August.

The Sky Bet Play-Offs will take place over the 2025 May Bank Holiday Weekend.