Max Rushden says Disney+ Women’s Champions League launch leans too hard on gimmicks

Opening night draws criticism for quiz, pasta and a golden retriever

Max Rushden, writing in The Guardian, says his own history of bad TV gives him a basis to review Disney+’s launch of its Women’s Champions League coverage.

The Hangout was hosted by Alex Scott with former England international Lianne Sanderson, content creators Tyra Mills and Alex Bailess, and, inexplicably, a golden retriever called Barley Boy, who at the time of writing has 82,000 more Instagram followers than Rushden.

The show included a quiz about Italy, including guessing the Italian name for football and what pasta the reporter in Milan was cooking. Rushden notes an "incredible still image of the panel staring at a load of farfalle on a big screen normally reserved for team lineups or key match incidents."

Reaction from the women’s game community

The immediate reaction was a mix of bewilderment and fury from seasoned lovers of the women’s game. Kathryn Batte wrote an understandable critique for the Telegraph.

Broadcaster Flo Lloyd-Hughes posted on X: "Disney’s new UWCL coverage is the closest we’ve seen to CBBC football (derogatory). I wouldn’t be surprised if we see someone gunged for making a wrong prediction or perhaps Raven will make a cameo. Keep stopping to remind myself this isn’t a dream."

Rushden argues the criticism is consistent with a core truth: "the men’s Champions League would never be covered in the same way." He questions how the team arrived at the concept and why former pros were replaced with content creators and tactical analysis replaced with questions like what’s the biggest city in Italy, and why a dog was included.

Broadcaster Marva Kreel articulated the issue on X: "I think a lot of the problem with the debates in women’s football broadcasting over analysis and punditry v content creation and gimmicky fun, is that in men’s football you can get both – and in different shows. In women’s football you get one show, and so they try to do it all."

Respect the game, don’t double down

Rushden says he mainly hosts the show before the show, where a dog running around wouldn’t be regarded as a crime against the game, and that live football is more straightforward than other formats. He adds: "The show Disney tried to make on Wednesday is technically much harder than Super Sunday – but that doesn’t mean it was the right call."

He understands the thinking behind targeting a younger audience, noting he has been told this before, and that Disney may argue most criticism didn’t come from young people but from fans who expect a certain coverage style. "Disney may be being cynical – people are talking and writing about it. The hardcore will watch anyway. Had they produced more traditional coverage, no one would have said anything. And sometimes you have to try something different."

On Alex Scott, Rushden feels for her as she "perpetually finds herself in the middle of some sort of culture war." He says he imagines Scott didn’t suggest having a dog in the studio or having guess the pasta, and that as a host you sometimes have to do what you’re told and do it with conviction.

"The reality of live football coverage is that people are watching because they want to watch the game. If people want comedy, they’ll watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. If Liverpool are playing Real Madrid, the fans will watch it – and either enjoy or endure the coverage. But what you can do as a broadcaster is make it as compelling as possible, and there are different ways of being a good host or pundit."

The dog did not return for the second night of coverage. Rushden concludes that you can’t magic up an audience, but you can make people feel like you respect the game, you can do it in an entertaining way without introducing animals, and people will come back and watch you again.