The EFL’s three divisions are coming back for a new season and details of when to expect fixture changes for live TV coverage have been confirmed.
Sky will again screen more than 1,000 games from all three divisions as they enter the third season of their five-year deal for live UK TV rights.
ITV will continue to show a selection of live games from both the EFL and Carabao Cup which Sky have picked for broadcast. ITV has a deal with the Sky for ten EFL games and a similar number of Carabao Cup games.
Every Carabao Cup, Vertu Trophy and EFL play-off game will again be live on Sky Sports.
TV game schedule changes up until almost the middle of January will be confirmed by the end of July.
EFL TV GAMES ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEDULE
EFL OPENING WEEKEND: All games will be screened on Sky from all three divisions – scheduleHERE
GAMES TO END OF WEEKEND 8-11 JANUARY: announced by July 31.
GAMES TO END OF MIDWEEK MARCH 3: announced by November 6.
GAMES FROM MARCH 5 ONWARDS: Will be announced four weeks in advance on a weekly basis.
PENULTIMATE WEEKEND: Will be announced three weeks in advance
FINAL WEEKEND: Will be announced the week prior but all matches in each division will kick-off at the same time.
EFL ON TV 2026/27
SKY SPORTS
1,059 EFL matches EVERY season shown LIVE across main Sky Sports channels or via the Sky Sports+ service.
SKY GAMES BREAKDOWN EACH SEASON
328 Championship matches
248 League One matches
248 League Two matches
ALL 15 play-off games
ALL 93 Carabao Cup games
ALL 127 Vertu Trophy games
EACH WEEKEND UP TO 10 LIVE EFL fixtures will be shown, five from the Championship, five from Leagues One and Two.
TIME SLOTS: Five to seven games will be shown on Saturdays at 12.30pm, regular games on Fridays (8pm) and Sundays (12.30pm) with additional matches on Thursday and Monday nights (8pm).
EVERY opening day match will be shown.
EVERY final day game will be shown.
EVERY designated midweek game round will be shown (this does not necessarily include games which were originally due to be played at the weekend, but we displaced to midweek for whatever reason. These games are sometimes shown, but it’s at the discretion of the clubs.)
EVERY bank holiday game will be shown (including Easter, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day.
EVERY League One & League Two game will be shown during international breaks.
SATURDAYS 3PM
Those matches not selected for broadcast which kick-off in the Saturday 3pm slot will not be shown. Broadcast games will be shown out of this time with the final kick-off times and days to be confirmed at a later date.
The EFL says there will be seven 3pm Championship games each regular Saturday and 19 League One/Two games combined at 3pm on Saturdays.
STREAMING
Those matches not on the main Sky channels, but also selected will be available via Sky Sports+ like last season
MATCH COVERAGE
Games shown live on the main Sky channels will have a minimum of eight cameras.
Games on Sky Sports+ rather than on the main Sky channels will have a minimum of six cameras for Championship, four cameras for League One games and two cameras for League Two matches. The games shown on Sky Sports+ are not produced by Sky but by the EFL’s production partner IMG.
ITV
10 LIVE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES (These will already have been selected by Sky. Last season ITV used Sky’s match pictures, but had their own commentators/reporters/pundits and did their own pre and after-match coverage. (ITV have the option to show a League One or League Two game instead of a Championship match if they wish).
10 CARABAO CUP GAMES A SEASON INCLUDING THE FINAL, ONE SEMI-FINAL AND TWO QUARTER-FINAL (ALL CARABAO CUP GAMES WILL BE ON SKY).
HIGHLIGHTS: Dedicated free-to-air highlights shows for both the EFL and Carabao Cup will continue to be shown on ITV. Mini highlights packages of all games will also be available soon after the final whistle on Sky Sports YouTube channel.
