Championship 2026-27 season preview: Dates, teams, and who will be promoted to the 2027-28 Premier League?

The race for three coveted spots in the 2027-28 Premier League season is on as the 2026-27 Football League Championship season begins Friday at the Molineux Stadium. Wolves host Blackburn Rovers at 3pm ET Friday in an appetizer for an eight-game Saturday and two-match Sunday, as 24 teams begin 46-match gauntlets in the hopes of promotion to the Premier League. MORE — Completed Premier League summer transfers, ins and outs Some big names came down last season and some pretty notable clubs failed to take their promotion chance last season, making this Championship campaign a hotly-anticipated one. Who went up, who went down, who's in, and who are the favorites to compete for the honors? Read on... When does the 2026-27 Championship start and end? The Championship season kicks off Friday, August 14 and runs through May 1, 2027. How do the Championship promotion playoffs work? The promotion playoffs have expanded this season and will include six teams instead of four. The third- and fourth-placed teams on the table will receive passage to the Championship playoff semifinals, which remain two-legged. Teams who finish fifth through eighth will play single-legged 'eliminators' — 5th v 8th and 6th v 7th — for the rights to reach the semifinals. The semi-final winners will play for a Premier League place in the Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium. Championship 2026-27 season preview: Teams Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Derby County Lincoln City Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Portsmouth Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Southampton Stoke City Swansea City Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers Wrexham How many American or USMNT players are in the Championship? Middlesbrough have three after USMNT players Sebastian Berhalter and Max Arfsten transferred to the Northeast this summer to join Aidan Morris. Towering striker Patrick Agyemang remains on the books at Derby County, while George Campbell plays for West Bromwich Albion. Damion Downs remains with Southampton, while Kristoffer Lund has moved to Birmingham City. Why are Southampton starting the season in last place? Saints were docked four points for a spying scandal at the end of last season. They were also removed from the Championship promotion final. Championship 2026-27 season: Who will be promoted to the 2027-28 Premier League? As usual, the Premier League's three relegated teams are favorites to go right back up — one more than the others. West Ham United held on to many players and are widely-expected to be one-and-done in the Championship, while Wolves and Burnley are close behind them. Middlesbrough's right there, too. Investment has propelled Birmingham City and Wrexham into any discussion, while Southampton are in the mix despite their preseason points disadvantage. Norwich City, Sheffield United, and Millwall are amongst the dark horses, and surely others will emerge to compete for promotion this season. Championship 2026-27 season: How to watch The Championship's season streams many games on Paramount+ with select games on the CBS Sports Network.