The Champions League final is the biggest day on the European soccer calendar. But what if it was a week instead?
Last summer, with the coronavirus raging through Europe, leaders at European soccer’s governing body huddled to find a way to salvage the Champions League, one of the game’s most popular competitions and among its biggest sources of revenue for its elite clubs. With borders closed to all but essential travel, the Champions League’s traditional home-and-away format was abandoned and replaced by an eight-team knockout tournament in a single city, Lisbon. The new format, born out of crisis, was a hit, produced thrilling matches, soaked in jeopardy, and huge global television audiences. The changes proved so popular with Champions League organizers, in fact, that they are giving serious consideration to incorporating some of them permanently. As Chelsea and Manchester City prepare to meet Saturday in this season’s final, leaders of European soccer’s governing body, which runs the Champions League, are preparing to unveil a plan to change the format of the final stages of the competition. They have alighted on a “champions week” concept in which two winner-take-all semifinals and the final will be played in one city, and supplemented by a schedule of concerts, games and other events. Champions League officials refused to discuss proposed changes on the record this week, but interviews with several officials involved in the discussions confirmed that the idea is under serious consideration. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they have not formally discussed the idea with the clubs that would be affected by the changes. The concept of a so-called champions week, which would produce the focused drama of the final weekend of a tennis major or college basketball’s Final Four, has been under consideration in the past. Soccer’s leaders have for years cast envious glances toward the N.F.L.’s management of the Super Bowl in the hope of emulating its week of pregame festivities for its own blue-ribbon event. But fearful of disrupting soccer’s traditions — and of endangering any broadcast revenue by losing two semifinal games — they have shied away from making any major changes. Until the pandemic changed everything. Talks about a champions week gathered pace after the emergency event last year in Lisbon. Executives from the participating clubs spoke positively about the event and — crucially — reviewed data that showed the television audiences held up with a neutral-site, single-elimination format for the biggest games.
