The early-season fixtures to be broadcast live on Sky Sports have been confirmed, with seven high-profile Sky Bet Championship matches selected for the opening weeks of the 2018/19 campaign.
Swansea City and their new manager Graham Potter will be looking to make a positive start on their return to the EFL and will feature live on Sky Sports twice in the latest selections, travelling to St Andrew’s before hosting Leeds United four days later.
Elsewhere, Tony Pulis’ Middlesbrough will face a stern test against West Bromwich Albion on Friday 24 August – the first time the Welshman will face off against his former employers since his departure from the Hawthorns.
Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City complete the latest round of TV selections on Saturday 25 August in an early-season battle for Midlands bragging rights.
The list of games selected for live coverage are as follows:
TV GAMES: Click here to view all of August's TV selections
As with 2017/18, the EFL and broadcast partner Sky Sports have again committed to give clubs and supporters at least five weeks’ notice ahead of any EFL League matches being selected for live television coverage.
In a small change to the policy from 2017/18, the EFL has outlined the dates when any changes will be announced to the public via the EFL’s digital and social channels, rather than the dates when clubs will be initially notified. The dates will again ensure any fixture changes are announced with a minimum of five weeks’ notice of the fixture taking place in order to give EFL supporters as much time as is possible to allow for any alterations to travel plans that may be required.
In addition, an amendment to this policy was made in March 2018, whereby a minimum of three weeks’ notice was put in place for the penultimate weekend of the season in order to ensure the most appropriate matches are picked for broadcast.
TV selection dates 2018/19: (Illustrative but subject to a five-week minimum notice commitment)
- Selections for 1 September to 29 September by 27 July
- Selections for 3 October to 10 November by 24 August
- Selections for 17 November to 8 December by 12 October
- Selections for 15 December to 12 January by 9 November
- Selections for 19 January to 2 February by 14 December
- Selections for 9 February to 2 March by 4 January
- Selections for 9 March to 30 March by 1 February
- Selections for 6 April and 10 April by 1 March
- Selections for 13 April by 8 March
- Selections for 19 April to 22 April by 15 March
- Selections for 27 April by 5 April