The Parisian supporters have a meeting. For the second year in a row, their club PSG qualified for the final of the Champions League, where they will defend their continental title against the Arsenal Gunners on May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. But, in the event of victory, Ballon d’Or teammates Ousmane Dembélé will be crowned earlier than last spring, when they lifted their first Big Ears Cup. The reason? Usually whistled at 9 p.m., the kick-off for this meeting will be given three hours before, at 6 p.m. A small revolution in European football decided last August by UEFA and which will continue for future editions. This change follows a clear guideline: putting spectators back at the center of the game.
“A positive economic impact of the event”
In a press release released at the start of the season, the European body justified this choice by the desire to create “a warm atmosphere that makes it easy for families and children to attend” to this opposition. The organization of this final will be simplified for the supporters, who will have “the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the evening with their loved ones and to remember the flagship match of the season”according to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. This new advanced schedule is notably supposed to offer “better access to public transport, especially after the match, and a safer and more convenient return from the stadium” for audiences on the go.Â
Another advantage put forward by UEFA: ‘”a positive economic impact of the event“for host cities”by allowing supporters to continue their festivities” when leaving the stadium. Budapest, whose historic center is two kilometers from the Puskás Arena, will thus be able to welcome tens of thousands of fans in its bars and restaurants well after the celebratory ceremony. Television audiences could also be higher. UEFA aims in fact an audience sometimes forgotten at major European evenings: families and children. The new niche is part of a “.fenêtre de diffusion plus accessible“, “to reach an even wider television and digital audience around the world, with a focus on engaging young viewers“.Â
Also read: Audiences: Record for Canal+, leading channel in France with PSG qualifying for the Champions League final, all other channels under 2 million
A larger targeted TV audience
While it should not shake up European habits, this new programming could broaden the audience for the final across the world. The American continent, a market that UEFA wishes to conquer, will still be able to follow the match during the day (12 p.m. in New York, 9 a.m. in Los Angeles). For their part, Asian countries will have to wait until the end of the evening (midnight in Beijing, 1 hour for Tokyo), compared to the middle of the night last year. In France, the 2025 final won by Paris Saint-Germain against Inter Milan attracted 11.78 million viewers on M6 and Canal+ (8.67 million on Six, 2.85 million on the encrypted channel and 262,000 on Canal+ Foot), or 54.2% of the public present in front of the television.
