Pay-television broadcaster NC Plus has launched two new sports channels dedicated to the Polish Ekstraklasa, Poland’s top-tier football league, which it will make available for distribution to other platforms.
NC Plus acquired domestic Ekstraklasa rights in a two-season deal, covering 2019-20 and 2020-21, along with public-service broadcaster TVP last year. The broadcaster hopes to recoup part of its outlay in marketing these two new channels to other platforms.
Edyta Sadowska, president of the management board and chief executive officer of NC Plus said: “For us, it is also possible to monetise expensive sports rights in the entire market, and not only on our own platform.”
The channels launched on July 11.
The move to distribute the channels could be seen as further consolidation in a Polish market that has already seen competition stymied.
Rival pay-television broadcaster Polsat has taken ownership of the Polish operations of sports broadcaster Eleven Sports Network. NC Plus has a carriage agreement for Eleven’s channels and Polsat’s premium sports channels are also carried by NC Plus.
In addition, Polsat has worked with TVP over the last year, having signed a barter deal for rights, including Uefa Champions League and national team and domestic volleyball rights.