The Champions League’s sister competition will get a face lift this season as the new era of UEFA competition brings a spotlight to the Europa League on Friday.
With all three European tournaments expanded in size and scope, the group stage has been scrapped and will be replaced by the “league phase” which pits all 36 teams into one large table. Each team will have their opponents designated at the draw, to play eight games with the hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage.
The UEL title winner will earn a guaranteed spot in next season’s Champions League, a lucrative prize to go along with a major European trophy.
The Sporting News brings you all you need to know on when the Europa League draw will take place, where you can view the proceedings, and how it will run.
MORE: What is the Swiss Model? How UEFA drew from competitions like chess to build new format
Free live stream 2024 Europa League draw in USA
You can watch the first Europa League draw of the new “league phase” era exclusively on Paramount+ from CBS Sports. Paramount+ is offering a one week free-trial for new users.
The UEFA Europa League draw will not be televised in the United States, so Paramount+ is the exclusive home of Friday’s competition layout decider.
Additionally, right now, for a limited time, new subscribers can enjoy Paramount+ starting at $2.50 per month for 12 months! Billed annually. Stream the NFL on CBS, Champions League soccer and more. Redeem now, to watch every match of the 2024/25 Champions League and Europa League for one low price!
For those around the globe in territories where a broadcast partner isn’t designated, the draw can be streamed on UEFA.tv.
What day is Europa League draw 2024?
The draw for the new UEFA Europa League “league phase” will be held on Friday, August 29 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the day after the Champions League draw takes place. The Europa Conference League draw will then be held immediately after.
Further draws for the Europa League knockout rounds will take place in early 2025, as detailed below, when the participants are determined.
Knockout round play-offs: January 31, 2025
Round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal: February 21, 2025
What time is Europa League draw 2024?
The 2024/25 Europa League draw will take place in Monaco on Thursday, August 29 at 1 p.m. local time in the principality.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major US time zones:
| Date | Draw time | |
| Eastern Time | Fri, Aug. 30 | 7 a.m. |
| Central Time | Fri, Aug. 30 | 6 a.m. |
| Mountain Time | Fri, Aug. 30 | 5 a.m. |
| Pacific Time | Fri, Aug. 30 | 4 a.m. |
How Europa League league phase draw will work in 2024
The old group stage has been scrapped and now a “league phase” will be organized to determine the eight-game schedule for each of the 36 participants.
Just like before, all teams will be distributed between four pots, determined by UEFA club coefficient at the start of the season. Unlike in the Champions League, where the defending champion is guaranteed a spot in pot one, the reigning Europa Conference League winner is seeded like all other league phase participants. This season, Conference League winners Olympiacos are slotted into Pot 2 by their requisite coefficient.
Each team will then be drawn against two clubs from each other pot, including their own pot, one to play at home and the other away. Teams cannot be drawn against other clubs from the same country.
To create the matchups, the use of manually drawing balls from pots will no longer be a major part of the proceedings. This is because in the new format, it would take ages to draw all the required factors from pots.
Instead, the initial team will be drawn from the pot, at which point an AI computer software will be used to create the matchups and determine home and away designations. While this will help the time required for the draw to complete, it will likely destroy the aura of impartiality that is created by a manual draw.
