Polish football league launches international streaming service

The Polish Ekstraklasa football league has launched its own OTT TV streaming service, Ekstraklasa.tv.

According to the league, it expects the service to deliver additional revenue and to serve as a way to way to reach fans of Polish football around the world.

The service will include live coverage of matches with Polish-language match commentary in territories where rights are not licensed on an exclusive basis. Rights to Ekstraklasa games in Poland are held by pay TV operator nc+ and public broadcaster TVP, while rights in south-eastern Europe are held by local sports offering Planet Sport.

The service will enable pay-per-view viewing of matches for €2.99, while viewers will also have the option of signing up for a monthly or season subscription, priced at €6.99 and €49.99 respectively.

The service will be available free of charge outside of the licensed territories for the first month. Fans can tun in via the web and app, initially on iOS devices with Android to follow. Smart TV and Apple TV integrations are planned over thenext few months..

The service is compatible with Chromecast and Apple Airplay.

Ekstraklasa.tv will also carry news and other content around current and previous season games, while summaries and clips are also available free of charge.

Viewers will be able to search for content and on-demand matches by club and player name. Ekstraklasa.tv also plans to introduce a user participation element by enabling YouTubers to provide alternative commentary and receive accreditation.

An English-language variant will be launched in the near future, according to the league.

The service will be produced by the Ekstraklasa’s own production outfit in partnership with platform developer OZ Sports.

The league said it had invested PLN30 million in digital projects over the last two years.

“Changes in the media market are inevitable. We are already trying to think about how the preferences of broadcasters and supporters will change shape in five or even 10 years’ time. We want to be strategically and technologically prepared to optimally exploit all these possibilities and provide our fans with the best product in a convenient, easily accessible way,” said Marcin Animucki, president of the board of Ekstraklasa SA.

“This is our most important technology project, because it opens completely new possibilities, whether about the reach of the league in the world, direct contact with fans, understanding their expectations and commercialisation of foreign media rights. This platform is an important element of our brand building strategy and confirms Ekstraklasa’s position among the most innovative football leagues in Europe.”