Sheffield Wednesday fans may have snapped up in the region of 20,000 season tickets ahead of the 2016/17 campaign but those hoping for traditional 3pm Saturday kick-offs at the start of the season will have to bide their time.
Match-going football fans in the Premier League have lamented the fact the TV deals have had an increasing influence on kick-off times and with more and more live football being screened the trend is filtering into the Football League.
For fans of the regular 3pm Saturday schedule it may be that Wednesday are a victim of their own success in that respect. The Owls enjoyed a successful season last time out despite their play-off final defeat and Carlos Carvalhal side also earned plaudits for their approach and style of play. Sky Sports have picked up on this and the fact that Wednesday's start to the season features some high-profile games and while this may cause inconvenience to some fans it also brings with it the benefit of TV revenue and increased exposure for the club.
Wednesday kick-off their campaign with a mouth-watering clash against Aston Villa – live on TV on Sunday 7th August and after following that up with a midweek League Cup clash at Cambridge the TV cameras will again screen the Owls as they travel to Norwich for a Saturday tea-time kick-off.
The Owls first ever competitive game against Burton Albion is a midweek fixture. Wednesday then host Yorkshire rivals Leeds United. The game has been a regular televised fixture in recent seasons and although it hasn't been selected for screening at the time of writing it has been moved from it's original planned kick-off time to 12.30 on Saturday 20th August for security reasons.
Should the Owls progress past the 1st round of the League Cup then their 5th fixture of the season will be a midweek 2nd round game meaning they may play 6 times before they finally turn out at 3pm on a Saturday – away to Brentford on 27th August – subject to change!