Sky Sports Selections Notification
The notice periods for selections for the 2025/26 season are as follows:
- On the 2025/26 Fixture Release Day, selections shall be confirmed in respect of the opening weekends of the Championship and League One and League Two seasons.
- By 3 July 2025, selections shall be announced in respect of all live broadcast matches to be played before the end of September.
- By 31 July 2025, selections shall be announced in respect of all matches scheduled to be played prior to the end of the third round of the FA Cup (January 2026).
- By 7 November 2025, selections shall be announced in respect of all matches to be played between the end of the third round proper of the FA Cup and the last weekend of February.
- Selections for matches scheduled after the first weekend in March will be announced on a four-week rolling basis starting from February 1 (e.g. a selection for the first weekend in April will be selected in the first weekend in March).
- Selections for matches scheduled for the penultimate weekend of the regular season will be announced three weeks in advance.
- Selections for matches scheduled for the final weekend of the regular season will be announced the week prior.
In line with the uplift in matches, weekends when all divisions and the Premier League are scheduled to play*, 10 regular weekend games across the three divisions will be broadcast, including seven games at 12.30 pm on a Saturday.
This will include up to five Sky Bet Championship matches and up to five matches across Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two.
https://www.efl.com/how-to-watch/tv-game-selection-process/
Comments
Friday August 1
Luton vs AFC Wimbledon, kick-off 8pm - Live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports+
Saturday August 2
Cardiff vs Peterborough, kick-off 12.30pm - Live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports+
Sunday August 3
Stockport vs Bolton, kick-off 12pm - Live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports+
Friday August 8
Birmingham vs Ipswich, kick-off 8pm - Live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports+
Saturday August 9
Southampton vs Wrexham, kick-off 12:30pm - Live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports+
Sheffield United vs Bristol City, kick-off 5:30pm - Live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports+
Sunday August 10
Leicester vs Sheffield Wednesday, kick-off 4.30pm - Live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports+
And at least they can't moan re games being called off or changed due to the International weekend !
Flights during school holidays are best booked at least three months in advance. It wasn't a problem for the play off final because it wasn’t during French school holidays.
Same in League One with Luton vs Wimbledon... Its a common theme over previous seasons as well
Charlton Athletic v Watford (12:30pm), August 9th - live on Sky Sports + *
However, it's not completely random. Certain fixtures are restricted from being on the opening day of the season, e.g. local derbies. So, when there are derbies excluded from the possible opening fixtures, that 51.5% is increased, slightly.
West Brom vs. Derby this season, is a repeat of the same fixture 125-years and ten days ago... and is marked as the Anniversary of the first game at the Hawthorns - For those wondering, it couldn't be played any closer because the week before is an International Weekend.
The 2025/26 fixtures for the Sky Bet EFL have been confirmed, and all Sky Bet EFL fixtures for the opening weekend will be broadcast live on Sky Sports to kick off the new season.
What real world constraints exist with local derbies beyond perhaps adjusting the kick off time?
Again I’m challenging in the context of your analysis on likelihood of certain matches cropping up.
However, it's not totally random. There are outside influences that dictate some matches, for example local derbies, don't take place at certain times of year, for example, when there's a higher proportion of police on leave.
So, in the case of Charlton, if there police place this restriction on the EFL (and I don't know whether they have), then there Charlton have three relegated clubs they could play on the first weekend of the season or eighteen others. If there were no such restriction, the numbers would be three and twenty.
So, in answer to both your questions, the Met might want to avoid derbies when there is a higher proportion of police on leave.