MIDDLESBROUGH and Sunderland will learn whether any of their fixtures in the first two months of the season have been selected for TV coverage in the next week.
Every Championship game on the opening weekend will be televised live by Sky Sports, with Sunderland's trip to Cardiff and Boro's visit of Swansea both kicking off at 12.30pm on Saturday, August 10.
The 2024/25 season will mark the start of the landmark partnership between Sky and the EFL, with over 1,000 games set to be televised, featuring every Championship club on at least 24 occasions.
As part of the new agreement, Sky Sports say they want to ensure fans are given extra notice on television selections.
READ MORE:
- Middlesbrough's Championship fixture list in full for 2024/25 season
- Sunderland's Championship fixture list in full for 2024/25 season
With that in mind, Sky Sports say every selected game for the period up to the end of September will be confirmed within seven days of today's fixture release.
That means Boro and Sunderland will soon discover whether the first Wear-Tees derby clash of the season will be moved for TV. The game is currently scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 21 but will almost certainly be selected for live coverage - meaning it could potentially be moved to Saturday lunchtime, Sunday lunchtime or - although extremely unlikely - Friday night.
Before a ball is kicked this coming season, all TV selections will be allocated for the period up to the FA Cup third round proper in early January.
By November 1 they will know about selections through to the first weekend in March.
The notice period for selections will then be four weeks in advance during the run-in.
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