By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 11 – Poland’s Ekstraklasa is planning to launch its own television channel. Under the plan, the channel will hold Polish league football broadcast rights and resell them to digital platforms and cable operators.
In Poland, digital television platform NC+ holds the rights to show the 296 matches scheduled for the Ekstraklasa 2013/2014 season. The broadcasts have a total viewership of more than 50 million per season, according to data from the Ekstraklasa.
On December 10, the chief executives of the 16 clubs playing in the top tier of the Polish professional football league met with Frank Rutten, managing director of the Dutch Eredivisie, reported local news site sport.pl. Rutten briefed the Polish CEOs on the Dutch league’s experience with operating its own TV channel, Fox Sports Eredivisie (formerly Eredivisie Live).
“Presently, we are receiving about €25 million, and this will increase by €2.5 million next year,” Maciej Wandzel (pictured), head of the Ekstraklasa’s supervisory board, told the news site.
“We want to build our own television channel Ekstraklasa.tv and with its help acquire a major investor for the league.”
Launched in the 2009/2010 season, Fox Sports Eredvisie holds Dutch league broadcast rights. Fox International owns a 51% stake in the channel’s operator Eredivisie Media and Marketing CV (EMM). The remaining shares are owned by the 18 football clubs and television production and distribution company Endemol.
“If we want to have a good negotiating posture, we need to improve our product over the next two years,” Wandzei said.
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