TNT Sports not rushing to declare new UCL format a success yet as they are waiting to see impact across season.
TNT Sports say it is ‘too early’ to judge success of new Champions League format.
Whether an expanded league system has “landed as people hoped” is still up in the air, according to TNT Sports, which is the UK rights holder for Uefa’s new Champions League format.
The Champions League has been critiqued for its intricacy and lack of danger due to its greatly enlarged schedule and eight-match league stage. However, the last round of 18 matches, which will be played concurrently on Wednesday, are generating increasing anticipation.
Match-day eight is a “strong change” from the previous structure, according to Scott Young, senior vice-president of sport at TNT’s owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, with the futures of major teams like Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain on the line. However, during the following three years, the broadcaster plans to monitor the product in which it has reportedly invested £917 million.
“I think it’s a bit too early for us to judge the success of the new league,” Young said. “And the football fans are still probably a bit like us, waiting to see whether this change has landed the way everybody has hoped.
“We’ve taken the view that we would rather assess this new format of the Champions League after the first year than try and judge it mid-season. [But] the additional clubs, the additional jeopardy that we’re now seeing in match-day eight, and what could play out, I think is an added value.
“At this point in the Champions League previously, it was a foregone conclusion for some teams. [In the new format] you need to be a strong mathematician as well as a football fan to know how it’s going to play out.”