Starting in 2027–28, the reigning winners of the men’s UEFA Champions League will host a standalone Tuesday night match to kick off Europe’s most prestigious competition.
The new process is inspired by the NFL, in which each new season begins with the Super Bowl champions taking on a formidable opponent on Thursday night. The game prompts fans of all teams to tune in to the lone game as excitement builds for a fresh campaign.
The NHL and the NBA follow a similar structure; the reigning Stanley Cup champions and the reigning NBA champions both kick off their respective seasons, though those clashes are not standalone games.
The change comes as part of the new media rights deal for UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and European Football Clubs, set to start in 2027 and go through 2033. Relevent will run the rights cycle after the American agency replaced UEFA’s long-term partner TEAM Marketing last year.
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The Athletic report Relevent has a goal of generating €5 billion (£4.3 billion, $5.8 billion) in annual media income from Europe’s club competitions. The agency, therefore, hopes to sign a deal with a major streaming platform, like Apple, Netflix or DAZN, to be the home of at least one Champions League match per season, much like Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL deal.
Should the exclusive rights deal come for a potential standalone opener, viewers from across the globe would all be watching the same game on the same platform.
After the lone fixture on Tuesday night, the rest of the Champions League’s opening matches will unfold on the following Wednesday and Thursday. As of now, it is unknown if the format will extend to the women’s Champions League.
Although the change will be new to Europe’s biggest stage, it is not a foreign concept in soccer. Reigning English champions Liverpool opened up the 2025–26 season with a standalone fixture against Bournemouth on Friday before the rest of the Premier League’s matches unfolded across the weekend.
The Bundesliga champions also host the first game of the season as a lone fixture on Friday. The German top-flight has followed the format since 2002.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The New Champions League Rule Inspired by U.S. Sports.
