Why are the EFL play-off finals kicking off a minute later?
SUNDERLAND and Sheffield United will meet in one of the biggest games on the English football calendar.
A place in the Premier League awaits either the Blades or the Black Cats, with Chris Wilder’s side eyeing an immediate return to the top flight.
Regis Le Bris is hoping to guide Sunderland back to the Premier League for the first time since 2016/17.
The Championship play-off final is just one of three promotion deciders happening at Wembley over Bank Holiday weekend, with the League One and League Two play-off finals also occurring.
League One sees an all-London affair, as Charlton and Leyton Orient both look to book their place alongside Wrexham and Birmingham in the Championship next season.
In League Two, either Walsall or Wimbledon will be joining Doncaster, Port Vale and Bradford in League One next season.
SunSport can reveal why these games are starting one minute later than usual.
Why are the EFL play-off finals starting a minute later?
The kick-off times have been moved back one minute to promote the Every Minute Matters campaign.
The campaign is a collaboration between EFL sponsors Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation, which aims to get supporters to learn CPR.
More than 270,000 people have already learned the life-saving skill thanks to the campaign, which launched during last season’s play-offs.
As a result, the three play-off finals will now have amended kick-off times:
- Sat, May 24: Sheffield United vs Sunderland – 3:01pm BST
- Sun, May 25: Charlton vs Leyton Orient – 1:01pm BST
- Mon, May 26: Wimbledon vs Walsall – 3:01pm BST
What TV channel are the EFL play-off finals and is there a live stream?
- All three play-off finals will be aired by Sky Sports.
- The matches will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.
- They can also be live streamed to customers on the Sky Go app and NOW TV.
- SunSport will have live coverage of all three matches.