PGE Ekstraliga Exclusively on Canal+ from the 2026 Season. End of Broadcasts on Eleven Sports

The media market for Polish speedway is facing a fundamental change. From the 2026 season, all PGE Ekstraliga matches will be available to viewers exclusively via the Canal+ platform. As reported by industry portals and regional dailies, the owner of the TV rights – Canal+ – did not renew the sublicense for the Eleven Sports channel, with which it had collaborated for several years. This decision ends the period of dual access to broadcasts and concentrates the entire offering for this sport in the hands of a single, powerful player. A Canal+ representative, in an interview with Interia, justified this move as a desire to build a comprehensive offering. „To strategiczna decyzja, która pozwoli nam zbudować kompleksową ofertę wokół żużla i dotrzeć z nią do wszystkich fanów tego sportu.” (This is a strategic decision that will allow us to build a comprehensive offering around speedway and reach all fans of this sport with it.) — Canal+ representative However, this does not dispel viewers' basic doubts about the specifics of the new offering and its price accessibility. Parallel to the information about TV rights, the new competition schedule for the 2026 season was revealed. As reported by "Gazeta Lubuska," key matches, including derbies between the biggest rivals, have been scheduled for Friday evenings. This decision has met with clear dissatisfaction from part of the fan community. They argue that Friday is a difficult time for people traveling to stadiums from other cities, which could negatively impact attendance and atmosphere during the most important matches. The schedule has thus become an additional hot topic of discussion about the league's future and image, overlapping with the uncertainty related to broadcast availability. The rights to broadcast the Speedway Ekstraliga have been subject to dynamic changes over the past two decades. After a period of dominance by public and commercial terrestrial television, this sport, with the development of the digital platform market, became a valuable product for pay-TV broadcasters. Canal+ acquired exclusive rights in 2021, subsequently sublicensing them to Eleven Sports, which for several seasons ensured a certain duality in access. The current decision to withdraw the sublicense fits into a broader, global trend of consolidating sports rights in the hands of single, powerful players, often at the expense of viewer accessibility. The main unknown, which has not yet been clarified by Canal+, remains the issue of availability and price. As noted by "Nowości Dziennik Toruński," questions have arisen in the media about whether the league will be broadcast as part of the platform's basic package or if a special, additional paid option will be created. The lack of official and detailed communication on this matter is causing anxiety among fans who fear a significant increase in monthly costs for watching their favorite sport. The portal HDTVPolska emphasizes that the change means the necessity of having a subscription with a specific provider, which could be a barrier for some households. The consolidation of rights in one hand, while strategically justified from the broadcaster's point of view, poses new image challenges for the league and its management. It will be crucial whether Canal+ offers an attractive, cost-effective, and technologically advanced service that balances the loss of an alternative distribution channel and whether it can mitigate the conflict surrounding Friday match times.