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Every game from the Polish soccer’s top-flight for the next two seasons will be made available outside of the domestic market via the Ekstraklasa’s own subscription streaming platform.
The move was announced by the Ekstraklasa in a bid to target the close to 20 million Polish soccer fans living abroad. The league’s own over-the-top (OTT) service, Ekstraklasa.tv, feature live games and highlights. Previously, from 2015, Ekstraklasa matches were available free of charge outside Poland on the Dailymotion platform .
The league also confirmed that global rights agency IMG had secured rights to distribute live match rights to international bookmakers.
Whilst the live games on the new OTT service will be for international access only, domestic users can get near-live highlight packages via a new feature on the Ekstraklasa’s official web app.
“Considering the size of the Polish audience worldwide, it goes without doubt that the base of potential recipients of the Polish league OTT platform is quite broad,” said Stefan Felsing, former Ekstraklasa consultant and Lagardère Sports executive.
“It would allow Ekstraklasa to the build and maintain a community of football fans who will concurrently be its customers. This move fits in with the global tendency prevailing in the digital world of today, in particular in the sector of the sports events broadcasting rights.”
In addition, Ekstraklasa has signed a media partnership with the Telekom Austria-owned broadcaster Planet Sport to show 296 matches in Serbia, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. That deal means that those territories will not have access to the OTT offering.
The Polish soccer league body is also in discussions with German broadcaster Sportdigital to air 30 matches per season in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as part of an agreement with Sky Deutschland, but are also looking further afield.
Małgorzata Borkowska, Ekstraklasa media rights consultant, said: “Our games will become one of the main points of the Planet Sport offer, next to the Champions League, they will also be promoted as important games in the region.
“We also talk with American broadcasters through the agency Cubillos and the Indonesian broadcaster who is interested in broadcasting matches involving Lechia Gdańsk.”
In Poland, rights to the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons have been awarded to NC+, the Warsaw-based satellite network owned by Canal+, as well as Polish public broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), which will also share post-match highlights packages alongside Polish free-to-air (FTA) TV station TVN.
In addition, the league’s clubs and the Polish Football Association (PZPN) will also have rights to distribute highlights. The Ekstraklasa confirmed it is also in talks with other prospective partners around its delayed production rights.
Every game from the Polish soccer’s top-flight for the next two seasons will be made available outside of the domestic market via the Ekstraklasa’s own subscription streaming platform.
The move was announced by the Ekstraklasa in a bid to target the close to 20 million Polish soccer fans living abroad. The league’s own over-the-top (OTT) service, Ekstraklasa.tv, feature live games and highlights. Previously, from 2015, Ekstraklasa matches were available free of charge outside Poland on the Dailymotion platform .
The league also confirmed that global rights agency IMG had secured rights to distribute live match rights to international bookmakers.
Whilst the live games on the new OTT service will be for international access only, domestic users can get near-live highlight packages via a new feature on the Ekstraklasa’s official web app.
“Considering the size of the Polish audience worldwide, it goes without doubt that the base of potential recipients of the Polish league OTT platform is quite broad,” said Stefan Felsing, former Ekstraklasa consultant and Lagardère Sports executive.
“It would allow Ekstraklasa to the build and maintain a community of football fans who will concurrently be its customers. This move fits in with the global tendency prevailing in the digital world of today, in particular in the sector of the sports events broadcasting rights.”
In addition, Ekstraklasa has signed a media partnership with the Telekom Austria-owned broadcaster Planet Sport to show 296 matches in Serbia, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. That deal means that those territories will not have access to the OTT offering.
The Polish soccer league body is also in discussions with German broadcaster Sportdigital to air 30 matches per season in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as part of an agreement with Sky Deutschland, but are also looking further afield.
Małgorzata Borkowska, Ekstraklasa media rights consultant, said: “Our games will become one of the main points of the Planet Sport offer, next to the Champions League, they will also be promoted as important games in the region.
“We also talk with American broadcasters through the agency Cubillos and the Indonesian broadcaster who is interested in broadcasting matches involving Lechia Gdańsk.”
In Poland, rights to the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons have been awarded to NC+, the Warsaw-based satellite network owned by Canal+, as well as Polish public broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), which will also share post-match highlights packages alongside Polish free-to-air (FTA) TV station TVN.
In addition, the league’s clubs and the Polish Football Association (PZPN) will also have rights to distribute highlights. The Ekstraklasa confirmed it is also in talks with other prospective partners around its delayed production rights.
