Thanks to the innovative technologies of digital television, for the first time in history, fans will see all the matches of the entire season through multi-dimensions. The station O2 TV Sport broadcasts 341 matches from the regular part of the Tipsport extra league. The playoffs will also receive complete coverage.
It will continue to be possible to watch live broadcasts of extra-league matches also via Czech Television, which succeeded with its free-to-air broadcast offer. However, the ČT sport channel can offer a maximum of 23 broadcasts in the basic part.
Czech Television was successful in the tender and thus obtained the rights for the area of free distribution to broadcast the ice hockey extra league until the 2027/28 season. The tradition of league hockey on a freely distributed program will thus be preserved.
— Czech Television (@CzechTV) May 10, 2023
The Sport.cz website also becomes a partner of the highest hockey competition in the Czech Republic with effect from the next extraleague year, i.e. the 2023/24 season. He succeeded in the selection process and received exclusive video content for five years in the form of clips that will be available during individual matches of the competition and immediately after them.
O2 TV is the winner of an open tender for selected media rights in the category intended for television broadcasters in the Czech Republic and will be the main broadcaster of the hockey extra league for the next five seasons. “In terms of attractiveness and interest, Extraliga has been working for a long time. This year’s playoff was also proof, when the viewership of intense duels on O2 TV Sport exceeded 300,000 viewers, which makes the extra league one of the most watched sports competitions in our country,” says the head of O2 TV content, Anna Lenerová. “Newly, fans on O2 TV will not miss a single match. We can promise that in the coming seasons they will receive the widest hockey offer, which has never been here in history on such a scale,” adds Lenerová.
Canal+, which previously announced an interest in media rights, ultimately did not submit a specific offer for any of the packages and did not participate in the advanced stages of the tender process.
“We will immediately start negotiations with the winners, whether they are TV broadcasters or holders of a package of rights to extra-league clips, aimed at signing contracts. We believe that these contracts, together with revenues from advertising partners, will help us fulfill our obligations to the Association of Professional Ice Hockey Clubs and that we will also be able to fulfill our goal of ensuring professional media presentation of the highest hockey competition for fans, clubs and competition partners,” said the head of the BPA Jana Obermajerová.
The station O2 TV Sport plans to continue deploying modern technologies, such as special O2 TV Helmet Cam cameras, thanks to which you can watch exceptional footage from the camera located on the referees’ helmets, or O2 TV Inside Cam, which brings unique footage from the ice surface and the stands. “We will build on our successful journey, when we brought completely new spectator experiences to hockey. Whether it is special cameras, online statistics, studios or virtual reality. We are already working on strengthening the newsroom, because we are expected to produce more than 300 matches per season, which is five times more than we have done so far,” said Marek Kindernay, executive director of the O2 TV Sport station.
