UEFA has introduced a completely new format for all of its competitions, including the Conference League, and 2024/25 is the debut season. Having replaced the classic group stage format with a 'league phase', there are now 36 teams in the competition instead of 32. As such, there are also more games to play.
The qualification stage of the Conference League has stayed the same and since it can be a bit complicated, we recommend visiting the official UEFA Conference League website for more information. We will focus more on the league phase here since it's a significant change compared to the previous format.
In the league phase, 36 teams are battling it out and each of these play eight games against eight different opponents (home or away). The opponents are decided by the four ranking pots, with two teams drawn from each of these, to ensure that there is a good range in the quality of the opponents.
As for making it through to the knockout stage, which has remained unchanged, teams finishing in positions 1-8 qualify immediately. Those in positions 9-16 and 17-24, meanwhile, must square off in a knockout play-off tie (two legs). The former group of teams is 'seeded' in this draw and thus gets home advantage in the return leg.
All in all, this new format means that teams must play at least 8 games - but at most 10 - rather than 6 to qualify for the knockout phase. It should be noted that none of the eliminated Europa League sides will drop down to the Conference League either, as that rule has been scrapped across all three UEFA competitions.
TNT Sports owns exclusive broadcasting rights for the Conference League in the UK, having signed a new deal in 2022. The agreement will be in place for the forthcoming three years, meaning you will be able to watch the competition on TNT Sports until the end of the 2026/27 season. The same goes for the Europa League, the competition's big brother, and the more popular Champions League.
League table rules: The Conference League functions just like any other league in the 2024/25 season, given the new format, and thus has a league table. The top eight teams qualify for the knockout stage immediately, while teams in positions 9-16 and 17-24 must battle it out in a knockout play-off tie. If two teams finish on the same amount of points in the table, goal difference decides the outcome.
Kick-off times: Just like the Europa League, the Conference League is played on Thursdays. A majority of the games are scheduled for 20:00 UK time, but there are also some early games at 17:45. Only in some cases, at the request of clubs, can a game be played on Wednesday evening instead of Thursday.
New kid on the block: The Conference League, which was initially named Europa Conference League, was launched ahead of the 2021-22 season and is thus still very new. It gives less prominent clubs the opportunity to experience European glory and while the prize money is far from brilliant, the competition has been very appreciated so far.
Below, we have listed the key facts of the best Conference League betting sites in the UK. As such, you can easily compare the bookies and decide which is best for your calcio betting needs.
💻 Operator | 📊 Conference League Betting Margins | ⚽ Average Conference League Markets | 👷 Bet Builder | 💰 Conference League Promotions | 📺 Conference League Streaming | Join Bookie 👇 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coral | 8.64% | 150-200 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Bet on Conference League |
Ladbrokes | 8.64% | 150-200 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Bet on Conference League |
bet365 | 9.24% | 100-150 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Bet on Conference League |
Betfred | 5.52% | 80-100 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Bet on Conference League |
Unibet | 8.27% | 100 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Bet on Conference League |
Isak is an experienced content writer with a background in sports journalism. Having focused mainly on football in the past, he certainly knows a thing or two about the betting industry. At BettingLounge, Isak makes sure that all of the content is up to date, specialising in reviews of UK betting sites.