Today I am talking Champions League. Specifically the new RIAL Champions League I am adding to my Reno Ice Adult League Concept for season two. The RIAL Champions League is almost like a second season that takes place alongside the regular season. It is a tournament but it is just as long as the regular season. Soccer fans will be familiar with the idea. The RIAL Champions League is based on the Champions Hockey League, COCACAF Champions League, and the UEFA Champions League.
In this concept, the RIAL Champions League was added as part of the additional competitions added for season two. Additional competitions were added for season two to create more revenue for the RIAL and Reno Ice.
The primary logo is in the league colors. The league colors are the same as Reno Ice. The logo was designed to match and go along with the league logo and branding. It has CL in the middle of a should. The CL stands for champions league. Above the CL is the star from the Reno flag. At the bottom of the logo is RIAL. I didn’t incorporate the league logo here. My reasoning for that is that the league logo didn’t work well with the rest of the design. Visually it was taking away from the CL (which should be the primary focus of the logo). The RIAL Champions League also uses a different font to emphasize that it is a different competition. Like the league logo it is designed to be recolored into each teams colors.
The secondary logo for the RIAL Champions League is a recolored version of the primary logo for dark backgrounds.
The alternate logos add wordmarks to the primary and secondary logos. There are two orientations where ‘Champions League’ is added next to the side or bottom of the primary or secondary logos. The reason for these logos is brand recognition. These can help people recognize the RIAL Champions League better. The wordmarks helps a lot in smaller applications. The RIAL Champions League logo would also not see as wide of a use as the RIAL primary logo therefore theses help spread the branding. With this being a new competition, everyone will look at the logo and say “what does CL stand for?” With the alternate logos the answer will be right there. These would see wide usage in the RIAL during season two. As the RIAL Champions League grows, the primary logo will see more usage where the alternate logos may have been used in the past.
This is the RIAL Champions League trophy. It is a basic cup design. I wanted something that was modern and shiny. I also wanted it to be big enough to be lifted up. It does take some inspiration from other champions league trophies.
The RIAL Champions League is made up of the top sixteen teams in the RIAL. That is just under half of the league in season two. How do the top sixteen qualify? Points. Think of it like points teams get at the end of a car race. Champions League points are awarded at the end of the regular season and the end of the postseason. Points are awarded based on overall standings. The team coming in last place in the lowest league would be considered in last place. The team coming in first place in the highest league would be considered in first place.
In the regular season standings the lowest team gets 5 points and 5 are added for each team above them (5, 10, 15). When the standings jump from one league to another (C-League to B-League to A-League) 10 points are added. That is followed by 5 points until the league jumps again.
In the postseason, the highest team is considered the team that wins the highest league championship. The lowest team is awarded 10 points and 10 are added for each team above them. When the standings jump from one league to another (C-League to B-League to A-League) 20 points are added. That is followed by 10 points until the league jumps again.
Expansion teams automatically do not qualify. The total points are then added up. The top sixteen teams in the RIAL Champions League standings qualify for the competition. The Tie breaker is who finished higher in the RIAL regular season standings. For this season eighteen teams did not qualify for the RIAL Champions League. Eleven from last season and this season’s seven expansion teams. The winner of this seasons RIAL Champions League and this seasons RIAL Open Cup will automatically qualify for next seasons RIAL Champions League.
The format is a little bit easier to understand than the qualifying process. The format is close to the CONCACAF Champions League format. The format is split into the group stage and the elimination stage. The sixteen teams get placed into four groups of four teams. The groups are drawn at random. Each team plays the other team in their group once. So each team plays three group-stage games. The top three teams in each group move on to the elimination stage.
Each round in the elimination stage is a two-game series with an aggregate scoreline. An aggregate scoreline is where the scores from both games are added up to determine a winner. Each matchup in each round is drawn at random. The top team in each group moves on to the round of eight. The second and third-place teams from each group all play in the ‘play in round’. The Last place team in each group is eliminated. In total there are four elimination rounds. The ‘play in round’ has eight teams. The ’round of 8′ has eight teams. Semifinals have four teams. The finals have two teams. The winners in the ‘play in round’ move on to the ’round of 8′. The winners in the ’round of 8′ move on to the semifinals. The semifinals winners play in the finals.
The RIAL Champions League starts the first week of the regular season with the second game of the finals taking place before Championship Sunday. Any team that qualifies for the RIAL Champions League will add three to eleven games to their schedule. In total, a team that qualifies for the RIAL Champions League could play between seventeen to twenty-five games single season. That does not include the RIAL Open Cup.
Zac Electrifly 
