Birmingham City's first eight games of the 2026/27 season will be televised. If they progress to round two of the Carabao Cup by beating Swansea City on Saturday, make that nine. The EFL is rapidly moving towards blanket live coverage and there are fewer traditional 3pm kick-offs each season. Blues will have to wait for September 19 when Middlesbrough come to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for their first 3pm start in the Championship. Saturday's showdown in Swansea will kick off at 3pm, but Sky Sports are showing every Carabao Cup fixture this season and supporters who aren't in South Wales can watch the game on Sky Sports+. Including the Swansea clash, Blues' first eight games are being shown on Sky and four of them have been selected as the main game on that particular day. They will appear on Sky Sports Football six times before the New Year. Blues are set to be a major draw for Sky once more. Chris Davies' side were on the box 28 times last season including cup fixtures, midweek matches – with all Championship midweek games broadcast on Sky Sports+ – and bank holidays. This time around, 16 of Blues' first 26 matches up to January 1 will be shown on Sky Sports. You might have expected to see a drop-off in attendances but Blues supporters sold out virtually every away end last season and the average gate for a league game at St Andrew's was 27,163. The number has steadily increased in Knighthead's three years in charge. An average gate of 21,180 in 2023/24 – which was affected by repair works to The Tilton and The Kop – jumped to 26,326 for the club's League One title-winning season before climbing again last year. The club now have around 20,000 season ticket holders, with thousands on the waiting list, despite football being readily available on the television all year round. Those numbers prove that this isn't the age of the armchair fan. League standing (final 2025 table -- new season not yet under way): 10th in Championship, 64 pts, 17W-13D-16L from 46 games, recent form DWWDW. Goals this season: 57 scored, 56 conceded (+1 goal difference). Title race: 31 points behind leaders Coventry. The EFL chairman Rick Parry said: “We’ve got to be very mindful of the impact for clubs but also for Sky because we really want a long-term partnership. It’s really, really important that it works for them. “I think everyone who has tuned into the coverage will