UEFA Champions League

Champions League to spread out games for easier viewing

Published Dec. 14, 2016 8:40 a.m. ET

Alex Dowd

Fans who can't get enough of the Champions League are about to get a significantly heftier dose in 2018. On Friday, UEFA announced a series of changes to Europe's biggest tournament, including one that will make it easier for fans to watch every match. Instead of having all matches played concurrently, the Champions League in 2018 will schedule matches in two back-to-back windows.

Currently, UEFA schedules the bulk of Champions League to kick off at 8:45 p.m. Central European time, but in 2018, the match windows will be 7 p.m and 9 p.m. CET, which is 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. ET respectively. So what does that mean? Well, it means a higher probability of watching multiple top-quality matches on a given Champions League day. In other words: It's awesome. Rather than having every match run concurrently, opening the schedule to include two windows means they can space out must-see matches.

Take Matchday 5 of this past group stage for example. Rather than be forced to decide between watching Dortmund and Legia Warsaw's crazy 12-goal match or Cristiano Ronaldo playing against his boyhood club in Porto, you could watch both matches. Back-to-back. Unfettered.

Time to invest in a new couch and a bigger TV. The Champions League is going to monopolize a lot of free time come 2018.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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