While the FIFA World Cup has been capturing most of our attention, we’re now well into July – and so it won’t be that long before Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is back.
But when exactly will FPL go live for the 2026/27 season?
That’s the million-dollar question and one we’re all waiting for an answer to, as those at FPL Towers rarely advertise the date.
What usually happens in advance is:
- An ‘updating’ phase
- A slow social media release of key player prices
- A drip-feed of any rule changes
- The final site downtime before the launch
PREVIOUS YEAR LAUNCH DATES
Recent launches have looked like this:
| SEASON | LAUNCH DATE | DAYS BEFORE GAMEWEEK 1 |
|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 21 July | 25 |
| 2024/25 | 17 July | 30 |
| 2023/24 | 5 July | 37 |
| 2022/23 | 5 July | 31 |
| 2021/22 | 23 June | 51 |
| 2020/21** | 15 August | 28 |
| 2019/20 | 27 June | 43 |
| 2018/19 | 5 July | 36 |
| 2017/18 | 12 July | 30 |
| 2016/17 | 19 July | 25 |
** This 2020/21 season was different because of the Covid pandemic
The average of these nine – not including the exceptional 2020/21 circumstances – is 34 days before Gameweek 1.
We’d be getting earlier and earlier every year until 2021/22, when we had a preposterously early start on June 23!
After that, we’ve drifted back towards July starts. Last year’s relaunch was the latest in over a decade, although there were new game features (ie defensive contribution points, two lots of chips) that may have influenced that.
WHEN WILL FPL LAUNCH FOR 2026/27?
At the time of writing, the first batch of FPL updates is yet to happen. This is the first step in the refresh, and they’ve usually occurred by this point (late June in the last few years).
All things are pointing to a late start, then.
The World Cup has also very much been capturing Fantasy managers’ attention. Interest in domestic football has been minimal. The traffic on our own articles on fixture release day, for instance, paled in comparison to World Cup content. FPL surely wants more feverishness before a launch, so they weren’t likely to go early while football fans were still in thrall to events in the Americas.
Don’t forget, too, that the Premier League is starting later in 2026/27. Gameweek 1 doesn’t kick off till Friday August 21, which – ignoring the Covid-affected year of 2020/21 – is the latest in living memory.
Factoring everything in, we’d guess at a launch, or at least the teasing of prices/rules, to come in the first post-World Cup week. The week beginning July 20 is when FPL went live for 2025/26, and you’d imagine it’ll be similar this time.
2024/25 might be a good steer, as it followed a major international tournament. FPL relaunched three days after Euro 2024 ended, so might we be looking at a similar date (eg July 22) this summer?
