International pay-TV broadcaster Canal Plus will take over exclusive rights from Viaplay to English soccer’s Premier League for the next three seasons, in Poland.
Canal Plus will take over as the EPL’s exclusive Polish media rights partner at the start of 2025-26, with the deal running through 2027-28. In addition, it will also continue to broadcast selected games from the remainder of 2024-25.
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Currently, Viaplay is the EPL's Polish rights-holder, but sub-licenses games out to Canal Plus in a tie-up that will come to an end at the conclusion of 2024-25. At that point, Viaplay will exit Poland entirely as part of its policy of retreating to its core markets (the Nordics) by the end of 2025. The initial Viaplay-EPL deal had been due to run through 2027-28, but this has now been shortened amidst financial troubles at Viaplay.
In 2022, GlobalData Sport valued the Viaplay-EPL deal (which also covered a range of other European markets) as being worth around $12 million annually.
Viaplay announced it would be exiting Poland and various other non-core markets this year, in late 2023, after experiencing serious financial difficulties and having to undertake a significant restructuring of its operations.
All 380 EPL games through the next trio of campaigns will be available live on Canal Plus for the three seasons in question. As a contrast, its sub-licensing tie-up with Viaplay entitles it to show two games per round of fixtures.
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By GlobalDataThe wider Canal Plus broadcaster is also an EPL partner in markets such as France, Switzerland, and sub-Saharan Africa.
Canal Plus was the EPL’s exclusive partner in Poland for the cycle before Viaplay took over, running between mid-2019 and the end of 2021-22. Indeed, it has shown action from the 20-team competition for over 20 years.
Edyta Sadowska, president and chief executive of Canal Plus Poland, has said: “I am very pleased to announce that we have acquired exclusive rights to broadcast all Premier League matches in Poland in the 2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28 seasons.”
Currently, Polish players contracted to EPL clubs include Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal), Lukasz Fabianski at Arsenal, and Aston Villa’s Matty Cash.
Canal Plus Poland, meanwhile, also covers the UEFA Champions League, in terms of its other top-tier soccer rights, in a deal covering the 2024-27 cycle.
For the EPL, the last month has seen rights deals for the next cycle unveiled in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Malaysian broadcaster Astro has retained rights, while Jasmine International will cover the league in the other trio of markets.
Domestically, the league will be covered through 2028-29 by Sky and TNT Sports, with those deals announced last December.
