Uefa has announced that it will centralise all media rights for the Women’s Champions League from the group stage onwards as part of a wider shake-up of European club soccer’s premier women’s competition.
Up until now only the final of the Women’s Champions League has been centrally marketed by European soccer’s governing body, with the clubs responsible for selling rights to their home games in the earlier rounds.
As a result, the competition has often struggled for visibility outside of the final given that broadcasters have been unable to acquire rights to games in bulk and have therefore been limited to buying specific games.
However, starting with the 2021/22 season, Uefa will sell the rights to a 16-team group stage that will replace the current knockout round of 16, with the governing body producing every fixture for television or online streaming.
Sponsorship rights, meanwhile, will be partially centralised for Uefa’s women’s soccer partners from the group stage onwards. The Nyon-based governing body has already added a number of partners specific to its women’s competitions since separating its women’s sponsorship packages from the men’s in 2017.
Under the new tournament format, there will be four groups of four teams who will play each other home and away over six matchdays, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals.
All told, the revamp will result in a 20 per cent increase in the number of matches, while eight matchdays have been scheduled to ensure they do not clash with any other major fixtures in the European soccer calendar.
“Today's decision is a game-changer for women's football,” said Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin. “The world's best women's club competition will get both the platform and visibility it deserves.”
The move brings the Women’s Champions League more in line with the men’s equivalent, which also features groups of four teams and sees centralised commercial rights sold by the Team Marketing agency on Uefa’s behalf.
The announcement also comes after Uefa launched its first dedicated women’s soccer strategy, #TimeForAction, which among other things is aiming to double the reach and value of the Women’s Champions League and Women’s European Championship national team tournament, as well as double female representation on all Uefa bodies.
Čeferin added: “When we launched our ground-breaking women's football strategy #TimeForAction earlier this year, we promised to take concrete steps to ensure a more professional and prosperous women's game. By guaranteeing teams more matches against their elite rivals, we believe that the group structure will raise the quality of the women's game even more.”
Uefa has announced that it will centralise all media rights for the Women’s Champions League from the group stage onwards as part of a wider shake-up of European club soccer’s premier women’s competition.
Up until now only the final of the Women’s Champions League has been centrally marketed by European soccer’s governing body, with the clubs responsible for selling rights to their home games in the earlier rounds.
As a result, the competition has often struggled for visibility outside of the final given that broadcasters have been unable to acquire rights to games in bulk and have therefore been limited to buying specific games.
However, starting with the 2021/22 season, Uefa will sell the rights to a 16-team group stage that will replace the current knockout round of 16, with the governing body producing every fixture for television or online streaming.
Sponsorship rights, meanwhile, will be partially centralised for Uefa’s women’s soccer partners from the group stage onwards. The Nyon-based governing body has already added a number of partners specific to its women’s competitions since separating its women’s sponsorship packages from the men’s in 2017.
Under the new tournament format, there will be four groups of four teams who will play each other home and away over six matchdays, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals.
All told, the revamp will result in a 20 per cent increase in the number of matches, while eight matchdays have been scheduled to ensure they do not clash with any other major fixtures in the European soccer calendar.
“Today's decision is a game-changer for women's football,” said Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin. “The world's best women's club competition will get both the platform and visibility it deserves.”
The move brings the Women’s Champions League more in line with the men’s equivalent, which also features groups of four teams and sees centralised commercial rights sold by the Team Marketing agency on Uefa’s behalf.
The announcement also comes after Uefa launched its first dedicated women’s soccer strategy, #TimeForAction, which among other things is aiming to double the reach and value of the Women’s Champions League and Women’s European Championship national team tournament, as well as double female representation on all Uefa bodies.
Čeferin added: “When we launched our ground-breaking women's football strategy #TimeForAction earlier this year, we promised to take concrete steps to ensure a more professional and prosperous women's game. By guaranteeing teams more matches against their elite rivals, we believe that the group structure will raise the quality of the women's game even more.”
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