Disney+ Women's Champions League Coverage Marred by Glitches — SkimNews
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- Disney+ confirmed a three-minute advert break during the second half of Arsenal's 0-0 draw with HB Koge was unscheduled and caused by a technical issue, saying it was taking steps to prevent a recurrence.
- Arsenal won 1-0 over HB Koge in their first match of this season's competition via a stoppage-time Mariona Caldentey penalty, with the ad break occurring while the score was still level.
- The Hangout, Disney+'s new live studio show for Women's Champions League coverage, was hosted by Alex Scott alongside former England forward Lianne Sanderson, content creators Alex Bailess and Tyra Mills, and a dog called Barley Boy credited with 137,000 Instagram followers.
- Beyond the ad break, the broadcast was hit by audio synchronisation problems, camera shots where cushions blocked views of Scott, a rotating floor that 'appeared to have a mind of its own,' and players waiting to be interviewed who could not hear questions from the studio.
- Italian reporter Roberto Perrone, covering Inter Milan's match against Hacken in Milan, also encountered audio problems; when sound returned, viewers were shown a non-football quiz asking about pasta types and Italy's biggest city.
- Athletic journalist Megan Feringa compared watching the coverage to 'going in and out of a lucid dream,' while broadcaster Flo Lloyd-Hughes of the Cutback wrote: 'It's the Champions League, not Blue Peter.'
- Disney+ is in its second season broadcasting the Women's Champions League, with match production handled by ESPN, and coverage continues Wednesday with Chelsea hosting Austria Wien at 20:00 BST.
- The criticism echoes last November's backlash over social media influencer GK Barry conducting the Women's League Cup quarter-final and semi-final draw, and Sky Sports scrapping its female-focused TikTok channel Halo after posts were called 'patronising' and 'sexist.'
Why it matters: Disney+ handed a flagship new studio show to a broad, lifestyle-leaning panel for the biggest club competition in European women's football, and the result was audience backlash compounding a cascade of technical failures. The contrast fans drew — men's broadcasts can offer both serious analysis and entertainment on separate shows, while women's coverage is forced to do everything at once — points to an unresolved commercial positioning problem for the women's game on streaming platforms.
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