The UEFA Champions League (also known as the UCL or simply the Champions League) is an annual club competition organized by UEFA for men’s associational teams. Founded in 1955 as the European Cup and rebranded in 1992 as the UEFA Champions League, the Champions League is widely regarded as among the most prestigious football competitions in the world.
Whoever wins the UEFA Champions League secures a spot in next season’s Champions League, as well as the opportunity to compete in the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
The most successful club in this competition is Real Madrid, while other teams like Ajax, AC Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester United and Internazionale have also won multiple titles.
Up until the end of the 2023/24 season, the Champions League proceeded as follows: The tournament officially started in June, with a series of qualifying matches that include a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds, and a play-off round. All matches are played as a two-legged format, and the six teams who successfully navigate their way through join 26 other teams who have already qualified through their club football associations. The tournament proper – which begins with the group stage – starts in September, with the 32 teams divided into eight groups of four.
Each team plays one another twice, and the top two teams from each group qualify for the first knockout round, commonly known as the round of 16. The third placed team in each group would then drop down to the UEFA Europa League, European club football’s second-tier competition in the round of 32.
Given its global popularity and prestige, distribution of broadcasting and live streaming rights for the Champions League on TV is widespread globally. In the USA, the broadcast rights for the UEFA Champions League have been held by various broadcasters over the years. ESPN, who held rights from 1995 until 2009, were the first broadcaster to provide TV coverage in the USA as well as live streaming options, followed by Fox Sports and Turner Sports. The most recent US broadcast rights have been awarded to Paramount+ (English language commentary) until the 2029-30 season, and to TUDN (Spanish language commentary) until the 2026-27 season.
In the UK, Sky Sports, who held rights from 1992 to 2003, were the first broadcaster to have exclusive TV broadcast rights to the UEFA Champions League. In 2003, ITV secured partial broadcast rights to the UEFA Champions League through an agreement with Sky Sports, which lasted until 2015, when BT Sports secured TV rights in a multi-year deal through 2024. Starting in 2024, Amazon Prime Video have earned live-streaming and broadcast rights to 17 Champions League games.