I'm honestly not a huge fan of the current format either. I could imagine an experiment with four groups of six teams, with only the top two advancing straight to the quarterfinals. There would be more games for TV, two more guaranteed matches for each team, and only one extra match until the final. It would result in a whole bunch of meaningless matches in the last group round, though, so it would probably not be popular with the neutrals, but fans might appreciate seeing their team more often. Most importantly, big teams wouldn't stumble through to the next round with one win and a bunch of draws. You'd actually have to play for wins in order to make it.