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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 included a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds, and a play-off round. All matches are played in 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.

During the Champions League round of 16, each team would play one another both home and away, with the winners from the round of 16 qualifying for the quarter-finals, then the semi-finals, and eventually the final. The quarter-finals and the semi-finals are two-legged ties, while the final, which usually took place in late May or early June, was played as a one-off match.

However, starting from the 2024/25 campaign, UEFA decided to implement a series of changes, which include:

- 36 clubs to take part in the tournament proper instead of 32

- Four pots of nine teams instead of eight pots of four teams

- No drop-down of teams from the Champions League to the Europa League

- Teams will play eight different opponents in the group stages, both home and away instead of three

- The round of 16 will have two paths: Teams who finish ranked 1-8 will automatically secure a place, while teams ranked 9-24 will have to compete in another two-legged competition (teams ranked 9-16 versus teams ranked 17-24) to determine which eight will earn a spot in the round of 16

The rest of the competition is set to proceed as the same as previous formats, with a two-legged round of 16, quarter-final, and semi-final, followed by a single match final. Quarter-final pairings will be defined by a draw where all teams, regardless of rank or country, will be selected against each other.

Given its global popularity and prestige, the 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, was 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 has earned live-streaming and broadcast rights to 17 Champions League games.