EKSTRAKLASAREPORT

20172018

EKSTRAKLASA LEGENDS GALLERYThe crowning of the celebrations of the jubilee ninetieth anniversary of the top-class Polish football league were the elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery. The elections were conducted among Ekstraklasa fans and experts. Based on the votes, twenty two players were selected to be included in the ranking for their great achievements.

The ninety years of existence of the league competitions in Poland were divided into seven sub-periods: 1927-1939, 1948-1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1980, 1981-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-2010. For each of these sub-periods, there was created a list of fifteen candidates for which votes could be cast via the official Ekstraklasa application “Closer to the Game”. In total, more than 21,000 votes were cast in the contest.

The votes cast via the mobile application were added up with the experts' choices. The organisers of the initiative invited two persons to perform the role of an expert for each sub-period. The invited experts were recognised journalists, coaches, former players and sports activists, including: Wojciech Frączek (the creator of the Ekstraklasa Encyclopaedia) Andrzej Gowarzewski (the creator of the FUJI football encyclopaedia), Andrzej Iwan (the WC medallist in football), Ryszard Niemiec (the former editor-in-chief at three newspapers, currently the President of the Lesser Poland Football Association (Małopolski Związek Piłki Nożnej), Paweł Czado (the journalist at “Gazeta Wyborcza”, author of books), Zbigniew Mroziński (the journalist at “Piłka Nożna”), Jacek Gmoch (the former Polish national team manager), Dariusz Szpakowski (the Polish Television journalist), Janusz Basałaj (the creator of Canal+ in Poland, the former editor-in-chief of “Przegląd Sportowy”, currently the Director of Communications Department in the Polish Football Association (PZPN)), Andrzej Janisz (the journalist at Polish Radio), Jerzy Engel (the former Polish national team manager), Robert Błoński (the journalist at “Przegląd Sportowy”), Żelisław Żyżyński (the journalist at Canal+), and Marcin Rosłoń

(the former player of Legia Warszawa, now the journalist at Canal+). In the end, twenty one successful candidates were selected. The twenty second laureate was the player with the highest number of votes cast by fans, who did not find a place in the top “three” of a given period.

For the time being, the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery is composed of the following personalities: Ernest Wilimowski, Henryk Reyman, Teodor Peterek, Gerard Cieślik, Ernest Pohl, Lucjan Brychczy, Włodzimierz Lubański, Hubert Kostka, Stanisław Oślizło, Kazimierz Deyna, Grzegorz Lato, Andrzej Szarmach, Zbigniew Boniek, Włodzimierz Smolarek, Mirosław Okoński, Marek Citko, Maciej Szczęsny, Jacek Zieliński, Tomasz Frankowski, Maciej Żurawski, Robert Lewandowski, and Andrzej Juskowiak. In the next five years, the voting for the period of 2011-2020 and the supplementation of the Gallery with several new names from previous decades are planned.

The first winners were awarded during the 2018 Ekstraklasa Gala. The following persons received commemorative prizes from the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA: Lucjan Brychczy, Włodzimierz Lubański, Zbigniew Boniek, Maciej Szczęsny, and Tomasz Frankowski. The remaining members of the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery will be awarded on the occasion of other events, such as important league matches.

Each period presented in the mobile application was described by at least three movie materials developed with the participation of the invited experts and produced by Ekstraklasa Live Park. One of them outlined the context of the old times, while two other materials presented the voices of jury members and the reasons behind their choices. There were also bonus materials (including the announcement of the campaign with the participation of Zbigniew Boniek and Marcin Animucki). In total, there were twenty six video clips offering one hundred thirty minutes of recordings on the legends of the Polish football.

An integral part of the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery were also rich bios of all candidates that were published in the mobile application. They were viewed more than 14,000 times and users spent 12 minutes on reading them, on average. Soon, in an extended version, these materials will be published in the form of a book crowning the first edition of the elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery. The creation of a bigger production based on the available materials is also planned.The elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery were promoted, among others, in the league’s own communication channels. All video materials published on these channels were viewed more than 300,000 times. They reached more than 1,200,000 users. #MyLegends (#MojeLegendy) hashtag assigned to the campaign was mentioned on Twitter more than 200 times. Fourteen articles were published on the website. The description of each candidate was enhanced with a separate occasional graphic material. All these materials were shared on the Ekstraklasa communication channels.

The design of the ball refers to the legendary product of the Adidas brand, which was developed for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. It was the first Official FIFA World Cup Match Ball in history, with its distinctive thirty two black and white panels painted to make it more visible during TV broadcasts. In the colour version of 2018, the ball panels are silver metallic.

The official distributor of the ball was 50style, a retail chain of sports shops. The ball was also presented at numerous promotional initiatives undertaken by Ekstraklasa. Adidas was, among others, the founder of the Top Scorer prize awarded during the official season summary at the Ekstraklasa Gala event.

OFFICIAL BRAND OF WATCHESAztorin remained the Official Brand of Watches on the list of Ekstraklasa partners. The company has guaranteed presence on TV graphics during all Ekstraklasa matches and on the Ekstraklasa stadiums. Furthermore, the brand is a regular guest in all marketing, advertising, promotional and informational activities performed by Ekstraklasa in relation to the competitions. In the 2017/2018 season, the cooperation resulted in the continued promotion and the sale of a personalized watch model of this brand.

Aztorin was also one of the partners of the Player of the Month contests and a number of dedicated video productions carried out this season.

LICENSEESMoreover, the sponsor pyramid offered by Ekstraklasa SA includes a range of titles for suppliers and licensees. Depending on the type of conducted business activity, the cooperation with Ekstraklasa facilitates the introduction or strengthening of an existing partner's product and its brand promotion.

In the 2017/2018 season, Ekstraklasa continued cooperation, among others, with Panini, a global leader on the collectibles market. For the fans of the Polish league championships, a special collection of Panini brand – LOTTO EKSTRAKLASA Adrenalyn XL 2017-2018 – was developed. The organiser of the games also granted a licence to renowned manufacturers from the sports games market – SEGA and Electronic Arts – for their products.

Ekstraklasa SA also cooperates with the Polish Security Printing Works (Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych, PWPW). The company administers the Central System for Identification of Participants of Football Matches. The maintenance of this system follows from the obligation imposed on Ekstraklasa SA and its clubs by the Act on mass event safety. The system enables all football clubs participating

in the Ekstraklasa games to identify participants of matches in a comfortable and safe manner, among others, through the integration with a database containing football club and judicial stadium bans. Each year, Ekstraklasa SA also grants licensing rights for the use of the results of the Ekstraklasa matches to all bookmakers legally operating on the Polish market.

DEDICATED PRODUCTSLOTTO EKSTRAKLASA SCRATCH CARDFor the second consecutive season, the title partner of the league and the owner of the LOTTO brand – Totalizator Sportowy – offered a special LOTTO Ekstraklasa scratch card. After the first well-received edition, the prize pool exceeded PLN 17.4 million in the second edition. Thus, it grew by almost PLN 5.8 million. The circulation of the scratch card was also increased from 4 to 6 million copies. The number of main prizes (PLN 250,000) increased from two to three.

The scratch cards have been available for purchase in all of the LOTTO points of sale and through the authorised distribution network from 7 November 2017. From the 16th matchweek, the LOTTO points of sale were also launched on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa stadiums. The price of one scratch card was PLN 5.00. It was also the lowest possible amount that could be won with such a scratch card.

AZTORIN EKSTRAKLASA WATCHThis season, the Aztorin brand offered a licensed Ekstraklasa watch which was dedicated to the fans of the home games. The watch is equipped with functions that are useful during any match, including a timer and an indicator of injury time. It is adorned with the logotype of the Ekstraklasa league.

OSHEEThe contract with OSHEE was concluded in 2016. The beverages market leader is the Official Partner of the Ekstraklasa games and the Social Media Partner of Ekstraklasa. Pursuant to the

contract, a limited edition of products marked with the Ekstraklasa logo was introduced in stores all over Poland. There were also isotonic drinks launched on the market and made available in two flavours, which were marked with the Ekstraklasa logotype and the emblems of all sixteen football clubs participating in the league in the 2017/2018 season.

MARKETING ACTIVITIES“What Is LOTTO Ekstraklasa For You?” – the first joint TV and online campaign of nc+ and LOTTO Ekstraklasa in history was launched on 21 August 2017. The advertising spot emphasised the meaning of the top-class Polish football league to its key heroes – players, fans, coaches and referees.

The main assumption was to present various meanings, feelings and emotions, which are evoked by the LOTTO Ekstraklasa games. The advertising spot was developed in cooperation with Ekstraklasa SA. The author of this creative was Havas Warsaw. It was directed by Łukasz Słotwiński, a creative director at nc+. Havas Media was responsible for planning and buying media. The marketing department of Ekstraklasa SA was responsible for communication with players, coaches and referees as part of the project logistics.

Ekstraklasa was also involved in the celebration of the “Player Day” falling on the day of 10 September to celebrate the anniversary of the Polish victory over the Hungarian team in the Olympic Games final. The symbols connected with this anniversary were displayed on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa stadiums in the 8th matchweek of the competitions. This campaign was conducted under the slogan #OneTeam #OneGoal (#Jedna Drużyna #WspólnyCel). It was organised in cooperation between the Polish Association of Football Players, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and Ekstraklasa SA.

This season, Ekstraklasa went on with actions from the previous

years, including a solemn setting of fixtures on the occasion of the Polish Army Day in August 2017. Each of these matches began with a presentation of the national flag. Then, the national anthem was played, while players and referees came out from the tunnel in white and red scarves regardless of their nationality. Soldiers or soldiers' children acted as an escort for the players coming to the pitch. The players played in specially prepared armbands. The stands were occupied by the heroes of this day – active soldiers and veterans from the cities in which the Ekstraklasa clubs are located.

Again, one day after the end of the competitions, the Ekstraklasa Gala took place. For the second year in a row, it took place in an impressive scenery arranged in the ATM Studio in Warsaw. The event, which was broadcast live on the nc+ channel, attracted more than 750 prominent guests, among whom there were stars and personalities from the world of football, business and politics, as well as the representatives of other sports disciplines and celebrities. During the ceremony, there were awarded prizes for the Player of the Season, the Goalkeeper of the Season, the Defender of the Year, the Midfielder of the Year, the Striker of the Year, the Top Scorer, Turbokozak, the Coach of the Season and the Discovery of the Season. The nominees had been selected during the Journalists' Competition Jury two weeks earlier. For the first time, the jury selected the winners in most prize categories. The choice of the Player of the Season was left to the players and coaches of the Ekstraklasa clubs.

APPLICATIONSince November 2017, an official mobile application of Ekstraklasa has been available as an additional channel of communication with football fans. It is based on three key pillars: commercialisation of fans, including zero fans (who spend no money on the league), the building of community

around the league (users' profiles, messenger and comments in the match centre) and the construction of a database with the use of artificial intelligence technology. On an unprecedented scale, the database is also used to conduct surveys on the fans of the individual clubs and the Ekstraklasa league. In the future, this application can also be used as a tool for improving the value of media rights in the area of digital rights.

The application has already been downloaded more than 13,000 times by users who, on average, spend there one hour and twelve minutes per month. The new communication channel of Ekstraklasa is the second best reviewed official league application (Android) in Europe (after the Turkey league), being ahead of such professional football leagues as, for instance, La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League.

The mobile application is the second biggest non-television communication channel after Facebook, which offers, however, significantly different possibilities (databases, personalisation, activity points collection, notifications, etc.). Soon, it will also offer an extended gamification module (Quizzes), which complements basic functionalities. In the future, the application can also be used as a tool for improving the value of media rights in the area of digital rights.

The mobile application of Ekstraklasa has significantly extended the range of the league communication channels. It can be perceived both as a solution that is supplemental to broadcasts (second screen experience), and as a source of entertainment and information. It stands out from other sports applications mainly with the scale of its extensive social platform. The possibility of creating a network of friends and an embedded messenger allow for sharing impressions about matches with other users who cheer on the same or a different football team. This function is available also in group conversations, to which users can invite fans of individual football clubs. As users run their own profiles, all content and information published in the mobile application is personalised and based on the belonging to the community of fans of a given football club.

This application also uses two additional functions of mobile devices. The first one is the feature of a camera, which makes it possible to publish one's own personalised photos on social media channels. Each photo taken, e.g. when watching a football match, can be provided with a theme connected with one's favourite football club. Whereas, if users are looking for a place in their neighbourhood where they can watch a football match, the mobile application helps them in finding such a place with access to the broadcast based on the geolocalisation functions of their mobile device.

The mobile application “Closer to the Game” is also an extensive match centre, which is updated live in accordance with official statistics. Its functionalities make it possible to evaluate players' performance and award them with distinctions for the match, as well as comment on the game. The most active users have an opportunity of building their own user statuses, from “amateur” to “Ekstraklasa” level.

In the Ekstraklasa mobile application, it is possible to watch archival matches from the previous seasons and materials prepared by the Communication team and Ekstraklasa Live Park. It also contains feature materials on the backstage of the league, videos with the heroes of the games, clips presenting statistics and trivia. All these video materials break popularity records on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa social media channels. A major advantage of the mobile application, in the context of foreign markets, is the possibility of watching live broadcasts of all matches that are available on the Dailymotion channel. The mobile application also offers an insight into the articles published on the Ekstraklasa.org website.

Since the 31st matchweek, the mobile application of Ekstraklasa has also contained the replays of goals, which are published several minutes after a goal has been scored. It is the first solution of this kind on the Polish market of sports applications.

The goal replays are delivered in the form of notifications on mobile devices of users defined as the fans of a club playing in the match from which the video materials are provided in a given matchweek. In addition, other users can receive such notifications by adding a given fixture to the category of observed matches. From one match in a matchweek, there are delivered six videoclips at the maximum, several minutes after a scored goal or a penalty fail. The Near Live Clips technology is the next step towards the digital development of the league. The most valuable data concerning the pilot version of the Near Live Clips programme is a notification click-through rate at the level of 70%.

The application and all its solutions constitute one of the pillars of the Ekstraklasa offer and communication directed at football fans. It also comprises television broadcasts at the highest world-class level, fitness data, eSports and extensively developed social media. The mobile application is available in two language versions (Polish and English) and supports two key operating systems (iOS and Android).

SOCIAL MEDIAThe 2017/2018 season brought a very dynamic development of the official Ekstraklasa social media channels. For the time being, the league runs its official profiles on such social media channels as, among others, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

The highest growth was noted within the Facebook ecosystem, i.e. on the Ekstraklasa Facebook fanpage and on its official Instagram profile. Despite modifications to the Facebook algorithm, it was possible to nearly double the number of video views (views of videos produced by Ekstraklasa Live Park) to more than 35 million. At the same time, all posts published by Ekstraklasa on Facebook in the 2017/2018 season were viewed more than a quarter billion times. The most viewed video was the compilation of the best goalkeeper interventions, which reached more than 470,000 views. Same as it was in the previous year, Instagram was the fastest growing social media channel of Ekstraklasa. During this year, it has reached more than two million post likes and almost sixty million post views. Compared to the previous season, the number of Instagram followers jumped by as much as 70%. In the previous season, Twitter, which is the fastest source of official information on Ekstraklasa, attracted more than 20,000 new followers and, similarly to Instagram, it is already approaching the mark of 100,000 users. At the same time, Ekstraklasa posts were viewed with 25% higher frequency than in the previous edition of the games. It is worth to notice a huge growth in the number of video views. For the time being, this figure almost reaches three million views, which is five times more than it was in the previous season.

Significant growth also took place in two monetised communication channels. The number of subscriptions to the league's YouTube channel doubled, same as the number of video views. The Dailymotion channel intended for foreign Ekstraklasa fans also recorded a significant growth in activity, which was caused, among others, by information campaign directed at foreign stars of the league and the possibility of watching the matches via the Ekstraklasa mobile application. In the 2017/2018 season, new formats were introduced to the online communication channels of Ekstraklasa, which followed trends and, thus, allowed for further development of the official league channels. These formats included, among others, “Goal of the Day” (“Gol Dnia”), “Comic Ekstraklasa” (“Rysunkowa Ekstraklasa”), movie posters, introduction of fitness statistics to communications and InStat match data, or more-than-two-month-long campaign promoting the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery competition.

In the 2017/2018 season, the official website of the Ekstraklasa league (Ekstraklasa.org) was redesigned. Now, being functional and transparent, it contains, among others, the schedule of fixtures, statistics, match highlights, as well as informational and journalistic articles. The homepage also contains counters that indicate time left to the next match and match attendance on the Ekstraklasa stadiums. It also contains feeds (current news / posts) from the official channels of LOTTO Ekstraklasa on Twitter and Facebook.

The new website of Ekstraklasa is fully responsive, which means that it is displayed equally well on the desktop and mobile screens, including smartphones and tablets. It offers access to any compendium of knowledge on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa.

eSPORTSFor the tenth time in history (and for the fifth time in a row), Ekstraklasa granted a licence on the league events to the manufacturer of the FIFA games series – an international company Electronic Arts. This contract is valid from the 2016/2017 season until the 2020/2021 season. In consequence, the top-class Polish football league was included in the FIFA 18 game, which premièred on 29 September 2017. The logotype of Ekstraklasa was published on the game cover. It is the only football game simulator on the games market, which owns a licence on the presence of the top-class Polish football league and its participants. Thanks to the above, it is possible to play seasons with one's favourite Polish football club and its real composition of players. The licence also covers the presence of the Ekstraklasa players in the game. In the latest version, some elements related to Ekstraklasa have been modified. Apart from adding the league newcomers, all team compositions and match kits have been updated. There were also added advertising elements with the Ekstraklasa logotype, including the tunnel, stand and LED bands

around the pitch. Before each match, the real table of Ekstraklasa appears and is updated in an online mode.

In cooperation with the publisher of the FIFA game, Electronic Arts, and the nc+ television, Ekstraklasa organised the second edition of the EA SPORTS FIFA Ekstraklasa Cup where sixteen teams of the LOTTO Ekstraklasa league competed in a two-person team composed of a player and a fan. One of the participants was Carlitos from Wisła Kraków, the subsequent Top Scorer of the league. Some clubs set up teams consisting of a football player and their own official esports player. Legia Warszawa was represented by the current FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Polish Champion Miłosz Bogdanowski, while the newly established esports section of Arka Gdynia was represented by Bartosz Tritt, a veteran of the FIFA scene. The teams competed in a tournament system. First, they played in four groups, four teams each. Next, eight teams that left group stage competed in the knockout stage. In the end, the best team was Cracovia.

The event was headed by players who are recognised for running YouTube channels on the FIFA game and who live commented on the matches played by the participants. The video coverage from the tournament was shared on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa, EA SPORTS FIFA Poland and CANAL+ Sport social media channels.

Another licensee from the computer games industry is SEGA, an international company producing the Football Manager series. Ekstraklasa was included in the last position in this series, for the second time in history. It means that its users received an updated database of players, coaching staff and stadiums. The game went on sale on 10 November 2017. A distribution partner of SEGA® Europe Ltd. in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary is Cenega. The localisation of the game into the Polish language was the responsibility of the global game publisher. SEGA is also the partner of the Coach of the Month prize, while the trophy for the best coach of the league in a given month is modelled on the cover of the Football Manager game.

PUBLIC ACTIVITYIn September 2017, the representation of Ekstraklasa SA, headed by the then President of the Management Board Dariusz Marzec, promoted the top-class Polish football league competitions at the Economic Forum in Krynica. At the Ekstraklasa stand, the visitors could see the Trophy of the Polish Champion and the medals for the best LOTTO Ekstraklasa teams.

Between 23 and 26 of October 2017, Ekstraklasa and Ekstraklasa Live Park participated in SPORTEL, the biggest sports marketing and sports media fairs in the world. For the company managing the top-class Polish football league, it was

an occasion to meet the key representatives of the media market from all over the world.

Ekstraklasa has participated in this fair since 2012, however, it was the first time in history when it was present at the fair also as an exhibitor, next to Bundesliga, La Liga, NBA and NFL. In cooperation with its subsidiary, Ekstraklasa Live Park, the company presented the league of sixteen best football clubs in Poland at its stands. The representatives of Ekstraklasa and Ekstraklasa Live Park met on behalf of the clubs with the representatives of international media companies, TV stations, foreign professional leagues and companies operating on the market of television rights. The presence of Ekstraklasa at the SPORTEL Monaco fairs was financed from the EU funds, precisely from the European Regional Development Fund.

Ekstraklasa SA and the Ekstraklasa Foundation are leaders of the project “Against Match Fixing”. It is conducted with the use of the EU funds from the Erasmus+ Sport programme. The aim of this project is to raise awareness among young players on the risks and hazards associated with match-fixing. Under the programme named “Don't Be a Pawn in the Game”, there are conducted trainings with the participation of about 1,500 young players per year. The conference on this issue, which was organised by Ekstraklasa SA in Warsaw in February 2018, was attended, among others, by the representatives of organisations from such countries as Macedonia, Bulgaria, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy.

The second stage of the project encompasses motivational trainings for young players, which will be conducted in the form of a teleconference. Besides, there will be developed generally available training and educational materials, which will be then distributed in football clubs, academies and football schools throughout the whole country. There will also be created an e-learning platform and a mobile application with publicly available trainings and educational materials, as well as guidelines for players and other groups exposed to this phenomenon.

Ekstraklasa SA was also the patron of the international SCIENCE4FOOTBALL congress, which took place at the Legia stadium on 1 and 2 May, 2018. This is the most occupied conference in Poland dedicated to such subjects as motor skills, nutrition, prevention, regeneration, and psychology. During the SCIENCE4FOOTBALL congress, the latest scientific trends and their practical application in the football world were presented. One of the special guests at this event was the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA Marcin Animucki. The company recommended and invited other clubs participating in the top-class Polish football league to take part in two-day lectures and talks run by the co-workers of the leading European teams.

The activity of Ekstraklasa SA has been noticed on the

international forum. The President of the Management Board Marcin Animucki was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the European Leagues to replace Dariusz Marzec in this position. The European Leagues is an organisation bringing together all professional football leagues in Europe. Thus, Ekstraklasa gained the possibility of expressing its opinions on any solutions concerning the future of the league football in Europe. The decision concerning this appointment was taken by the General Assembly of the European Leagues, which was held in Edinburgh. Marcin Animucki was selected by an unanimous decision of the assembly members. As a result, he became a member of a twelve-person group bringing together the representatives of such football leagues as Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Premier League, and La Liga.

Apart from the representative of the Russian football league, Marcin Animucki is the only representative of the Central and Eastern European leagues in the management board of the European Leagues. His election is another distinction for the Polish football on an international scene.

In April 2017, Zbigniew Boniek, the President of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) became the Member of the UEFA Executive Committee. In the same month, Dariusz Mioduski, the President of Legia Warszawa, became the Vice-President of the European Club Association (ECA), the biggest organisation bringing together professional football clubs on the Old Continent.

In April 2018, Marcin Animucki, the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA, took part in the Congress of Local Governments held in Cracow. During this congress, the debate was run under the title “Sports Local Government – Why Is It Worth It?” At this debate, the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA addressed such issues as the promotion of local government by the Ekstraklasa clubs, or the construction of stadiums and training infrastructure by local governments. He also mentioned the cooperation between the clubs and the cities

with regard to sports activities for children and the youth and the facilities for football fans on match days.

EXTRA CLASS ACADEMIES/ EXTRA TALENT One of the newest areas of Ekstraklasa SA operations is pursuing the development of sports through the prism of football and the growth of football clubs participating in the top-class Polish football league. In cooperation with the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, Ekstraklasa SA strives to promote football among the youngest fans by conducting activities that raise public awareness on the importance of general physical activity. The above operations are also performed by raising funding for the following projects: “Extra Club” (“Ekstra Klub”), “Extra Fun” (“Ekstra Zabawa”) and “Extra Talent” (“Ekstra Talent”). These actions are aimed at supporting the development of the Ekstraklasa clubs' academies, improving the communication of their offer and enabling access to as large a group of young football players and their parents as possible.

In September 2017, the second edition of the “Extra Talent” (“Ekstra Talent”) programme was launched. Within a month, there were sixteen tournaments played, which were hosted by the league clubs and their youth academies. Approximately three thousand children aged less than twelve took part in the entire series.

Not only did participants compete with their peers in tournaments played on professional stadiums but also each child underwent a fitness assessment test in accordance with the EU-wide EUROFIT standard as part of building a national database of sports talents. Such performance tests comprise three exercises: bent arm hang, 10 x 5 meter shuttle run and endurance shuttle run (so-called beep test).

At the turn of May and June 2018, there was initiated a series of the “Extra Class Academies” (“Akademie Klasy Ekstra”)

offering a one-day training programme for children aged 3 to 11. Young people had a unique opportunity to meet the coaching staff and players of the league teams. With the support of the trainers, they learned the components of a professional training and could hear valuable advice concerning the proper physical development.

The purpose of the “Extra Class Academies” (“Akademie Klasy Ekstra”), which have been organised with the support of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism since 2016, is to promote physical activity among the youngest and bring together local communities and local football clubs. In this year's edition, apart from 27,500 children, the programme was participated by almost 17,000 parents and carers. The grand finale at the Legia Warszawa stadium was the most popular event. The facility located at the Łazienkowska street gathered about 11,000 children. A high attendance rate was also noted at trainings organised in Białystok (7,000 participants) and Kielce (4,400 participants). This year's edition started in Płock and ended in Warsaw.

The significant support provided by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism also includes the co-funding of the construction of football facilities in clubs, including football pitches and training halls, as well as academies for children and the youth. At the beginning of June 2018, the funding was also granted to Cracovia (PLN 8 million) and Jagiellonia Białystok (PLN 5.2 million). In the previous years, the co-funding for the construction of a pitch and a pneumatic hall (PLN 2 million) was granted to Lech Poznań. Legia Warszawa also received funding (PLN 11 million) for the construction of a training facility in Grodzisk Mazowiecki.

CSR (SOCIAL INITIATIVES)This season, Ekstraklasa has taken patronage over several social initiatives, which are partly related to sports.

It is the third consecutive year, in which Ekstraklasa is involved in the “Noble Box Project” (“Szlachetna Paczka”). However, it was the first time when the mutual cooperation had such a wide scope. Several leading players of the league, including Sławomir Peszka, Jakub Kosecki and Carlitos, took part in the “I Like People” (“Lubię Ludzi”) campaign spot, which inaugu-rated this year's edition. The broadcast of the video clip launched so-called “National Whip-Round” (“Zrzuta Narodo-wa”), which financially supported the Noble Box Project. The whip-round was promoted in all Ekstraklasa communication channels and in television stations broadcasting the league competitions. The volunteers from the SPRING Association (“Stowarzyszenie WIOSNA”) raised money for the initiative at the fixtures played in the 12th and 13th matchweeks. Specially for the occasion of the whip-round, Ekstraklasa also manufac-tured a limited edition of a football scarf that could be purcha-sed in charity auctions on the Allegro website. All proceeds

from the sale of these scarves were spent to help those in need.

In the 6th and 7th matchweek of the 2017/2018 season, the collection of school accessories for people in need took place in cooperation with the “Beautiful Angels Association” (“Stowa-rzyszenie Piękne Anioły”). The Ombudsman for Children took patronage over this charitable collection. Ekstraklasa also supported this action.

Ekstraklasa SA did not forget about its sports character and got involved in numerous actions conducted with an aim of promoting general physical activity. Among others, as a member of the EPFL, it got engaged in the European Week of Sport #BeActive. The league was also involved in actions organised in cooperation with the “SOS Children's Villages Association” (“Fundacja SOS Wioski Dziecięce”) and the Special Olympics.

The company also took patronage over several other sports initiatives. It was, among others, the Polish Sports Photo-graphy Contest organised by the Press Focus agency, Press-photocenter and the City of Szczecinek. This year, for the second time, the special prize was awarded for a photo taken at the LOTTO Ekstraklasa match. The author of the winning photo was Rafał Gąglewski who took a photo of Dusan Kuciak swaying for the ball in the air in the match between Legia Warszawa and Lechia Gdańsk held in the 37th matchweek of the 2016/2017 season. The special prize for the winner was the Aztorin watch from the series of the Official Watches of Ekstra-klasa.

Ekstraklasa SA also took patronage over the book written by Paweł Czado and entitled “Górnik Zabrze. The Story About The Heyday” (“Górnik Zabrze. Opowieść o złotych latach”) published by Agora SA. The book tells the story on the three decades of golden years of Górnik Zabrze, during which the team dominated on the national playground. The premiere of the book took place in September 2017.

Together with the Kozminski University in Warsaw, Ekstrakla-sa SA organised another edition of postgraduate studies called “FIFA/CIES Programme in Sports Management”. Ekstraklasa SA performs a role of a content-related partner in this initiati-ve. The framework of this programme has been developed by CIES and is currently being carried out in alignment with local specifics in more than a dozen countries all over the world. The classes are conducted both by academic teachers and outstan-ding practitioners representing the world of sports and business (including, among others, Marcin Animucki, Michał Pol, Marek Karpiński, and Marek Pałus). The programme ends with the presentation of a diploma project. The authors of the best projects have a chance of applying for a prestigious FIFA Master scholarship, together with their colleagues from other countries, and carry on education on an international level.

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022 | EKSTRAKLASA REPORT 2017/2018

CONTENTS

EKSTRAKLASA LEGENDS GALLERYThe crowning of the celebrations of the jubilee ninetieth anniversary of the top-class Polish football league were the elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery. The elections were conducted among Ekstraklasa fans and experts. Based on the votes, twenty two players were selected to be included in the ranking for their great achievements.

The ninety years of existence of the league competitions in Poland were divided into seven sub-periods: 1927-1939, 1948-1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1980, 1981-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-2010. For each of these sub-periods, there was created a list of fifteen candidates for which votes could be cast via the official Ekstraklasa application “Closer to the Game”. In total, more than 21,000 votes were cast in the contest.

The votes cast via the mobile application were added up with the experts' choices. The organisers of the initiative invited two persons to perform the role of an expert for each sub-period. The invited experts were recognised journalists, coaches, former players and sports activists, including: Wojciech Frączek (the creator of the Ekstraklasa Encyclopaedia) Andrzej Gowarzewski (the creator of the FUJI football encyclopaedia), Andrzej Iwan (the WC medallist in football), Ryszard Niemiec (the former editor-in-chief at three newspapers, currently the President of the Lesser Poland Football Association (Małopolski Związek Piłki Nożnej), Paweł Czado (the journalist at “Gazeta Wyborcza”, author of books), Zbigniew Mroziński (the journalist at “Piłka Nożna”), Jacek Gmoch (the former Polish national team manager), Dariusz Szpakowski (the Polish Television journalist), Janusz Basałaj (the creator of Canal+ in Poland, the former editor-in-chief of “Przegląd Sportowy”, currently the Director of Communications Department in the Polish Football Association (PZPN)), Andrzej Janisz (the journalist at Polish Radio), Jerzy Engel (the former Polish national team manager), Robert Błoński (the journalist at “Przegląd Sportowy”), Żelisław Żyżyński (the journalist at Canal+), and Marcin Rosłoń

(the former player of Legia Warszawa, now the journalist at Canal+). In the end, twenty one successful candidates were selected. The twenty second laureate was the player with the highest number of votes cast by fans, who did not find a place in the top “three” of a given period.

For the time being, the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery is composed of the following personalities: Ernest Wilimowski, Henryk Reyman, Teodor Peterek, Gerard Cieślik, Ernest Pohl, Lucjan Brychczy, Włodzimierz Lubański, Hubert Kostka, Stanisław Oślizło, Kazimierz Deyna, Grzegorz Lato, Andrzej Szarmach, Zbigniew Boniek, Włodzimierz Smolarek, Mirosław Okoński, Marek Citko, Maciej Szczęsny, Jacek Zieliński, Tomasz Frankowski, Maciej Żurawski, Robert Lewandowski, and Andrzej Juskowiak. In the next five years, the voting for the period of 2011-2020 and the supplementation of the Gallery with several new names from previous decades are planned.

The first winners were awarded during the 2018 Ekstraklasa Gala. The following persons received commemorative prizes from the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA: Lucjan Brychczy, Włodzimierz Lubański, Zbigniew Boniek, Maciej Szczęsny, and Tomasz Frankowski. The remaining members of the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery will be awarded on the occasion of other events, such as important league matches.

Each period presented in the mobile application was described by at least three movie materials developed with the participation of the invited experts and produced by Ekstraklasa Live Park. One of them outlined the context of the old times, while two other materials presented the voices of jury members and the reasons behind their choices. There were also bonus materials (including the announcement of the campaign with the participation of Zbigniew Boniek and Marcin Animucki). In total, there were twenty six video clips offering one hundred thirty minutes of recordings on the legends of the Polish football.

An integral part of the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery were also rich bios of all candidates that were published in the mobile application. They were viewed more than 14,000 times and users spent 12 minutes on reading them, on average. Soon, in an extended version, these materials will be published in the form of a book crowning the first edition of the elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery. The creation of a bigger production based on the available materials is also planned.The elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery were promoted, among others, in the league’s own communication channels. All video materials published on these channels were viewed more than 300,000 times. They reached more than 1,200,000 users. #MyLegends (#MojeLegendy) hashtag assigned to the campaign was mentioned on Twitter more than 200 times. Fourteen articles were published on the website. The description of each candidate was enhanced with a separate occasional graphic material. All these materials were shared on the Ekstraklasa communication channels.

The design of the ball refers to the legendary product of the Adidas brand, which was developed for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. It was the first Official FIFA World Cup Match Ball in history, with its distinctive thirty two black and white panels painted to make it more visible during TV broadcasts. In the colour version of 2018, the ball panels are silver metallic.

The official distributor of the ball was 50style, a retail chain of sports shops. The ball was also presented at numerous promotional initiatives undertaken by Ekstraklasa. Adidas was, among others, the founder of the Top Scorer prize awarded during the official season summary at the Ekstraklasa Gala event.

OFFICIAL BRAND OF WATCHESAztorin remained the Official Brand of Watches on the list of Ekstraklasa partners. The company has guaranteed presence on TV graphics during all Ekstraklasa matches and on the Ekstraklasa stadiums. Furthermore, the brand is a regular guest in all marketing, advertising, promotional and informational activities performed by Ekstraklasa in relation to the competitions. In the 2017/2018 season, the cooperation resulted in the continued promotion and the sale of a personalized watch model of this brand.

Aztorin was also one of the partners of the Player of the Month contests and a number of dedicated video productions carried out this season.

LICENSEESMoreover, the sponsor pyramid offered by Ekstraklasa SA includes a range of titles for suppliers and licensees. Depending on the type of conducted business activity, the cooperation with Ekstraklasa facilitates the introduction or strengthening of an existing partner's product and its brand promotion.

In the 2017/2018 season, Ekstraklasa continued cooperation, among others, with Panini, a global leader on the collectibles market. For the fans of the Polish league championships, a special collection of Panini brand – LOTTO EKSTRAKLASA Adrenalyn XL 2017-2018 – was developed. The organiser of the games also granted a licence to renowned manufacturers from the sports games market – SEGA and Electronic Arts – for their products.

Ekstraklasa SA also cooperates with the Polish Security Printing Works (Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych, PWPW). The company administers the Central System for Identification of Participants of Football Matches. The maintenance of this system follows from the obligation imposed on Ekstraklasa SA and its clubs by the Act on mass event safety. The system enables all football clubs participating

in the Ekstraklasa games to identify participants of matches in a comfortable and safe manner, among others, through the integration with a database containing football club and judicial stadium bans. Each year, Ekstraklasa SA also grants licensing rights for the use of the results of the Ekstraklasa matches to all bookmakers legally operating on the Polish market.

DEDICATED PRODUCTSLOTTO EKSTRAKLASA SCRATCH CARDFor the second consecutive season, the title partner of the league and the owner of the LOTTO brand – Totalizator Sportowy – offered a special LOTTO Ekstraklasa scratch card. After the first well-received edition, the prize pool exceeded PLN 17.4 million in the second edition. Thus, it grew by almost PLN 5.8 million. The circulation of the scratch card was also increased from 4 to 6 million copies. The number of main prizes (PLN 250,000) increased from two to three.

The scratch cards have been available for purchase in all of the LOTTO points of sale and through the authorised distribution network from 7 November 2017. From the 16th matchweek, the LOTTO points of sale were also launched on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa stadiums. The price of one scratch card was PLN 5.00. It was also the lowest possible amount that could be won with such a scratch card.

AZTORIN EKSTRAKLASA WATCHThis season, the Aztorin brand offered a licensed Ekstraklasa watch which was dedicated to the fans of the home games. The watch is equipped with functions that are useful during any match, including a timer and an indicator of injury time. It is adorned with the logotype of the Ekstraklasa league.

OSHEEThe contract with OSHEE was concluded in 2016. The beverages market leader is the Official Partner of the Ekstraklasa games and the Social Media Partner of Ekstraklasa. Pursuant to the

contract, a limited edition of products marked with the Ekstraklasa logo was introduced in stores all over Poland. There were also isotonic drinks launched on the market and made available in two flavours, which were marked with the Ekstraklasa logotype and the emblems of all sixteen football clubs participating in the league in the 2017/2018 season.

MARKETING ACTIVITIES“What Is LOTTO Ekstraklasa For You?” – the first joint TV and online campaign of nc+ and LOTTO Ekstraklasa in history was launched on 21 August 2017. The advertising spot emphasised the meaning of the top-class Polish football league to its key heroes – players, fans, coaches and referees.

The main assumption was to present various meanings, feelings and emotions, which are evoked by the LOTTO Ekstraklasa games. The advertising spot was developed in cooperation with Ekstraklasa SA. The author of this creative was Havas Warsaw. It was directed by Łukasz Słotwiński, a creative director at nc+. Havas Media was responsible for planning and buying media. The marketing department of Ekstraklasa SA was responsible for communication with players, coaches and referees as part of the project logistics.

Ekstraklasa was also involved in the celebration of the “Player Day” falling on the day of 10 September to celebrate the anniversary of the Polish victory over the Hungarian team in the Olympic Games final. The symbols connected with this anniversary were displayed on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa stadiums in the 8th matchweek of the competitions. This campaign was conducted under the slogan #OneTeam #OneGoal (#Jedna Drużyna #WspólnyCel). It was organised in cooperation between the Polish Association of Football Players, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and Ekstraklasa SA.

This season, Ekstraklasa went on with actions from the previous

years, including a solemn setting of fixtures on the occasion of the Polish Army Day in August 2017. Each of these matches began with a presentation of the national flag. Then, the national anthem was played, while players and referees came out from the tunnel in white and red scarves regardless of their nationality. Soldiers or soldiers' children acted as an escort for the players coming to the pitch. The players played in specially prepared armbands. The stands were occupied by the heroes of this day – active soldiers and veterans from the cities in which the Ekstraklasa clubs are located.

Again, one day after the end of the competitions, the Ekstraklasa Gala took place. For the second year in a row, it took place in an impressive scenery arranged in the ATM Studio in Warsaw. The event, which was broadcast live on the nc+ channel, attracted more than 750 prominent guests, among whom there were stars and personalities from the world of football, business and politics, as well as the representatives of other sports disciplines and celebrities. During the ceremony, there were awarded prizes for the Player of the Season, the Goalkeeper of the Season, the Defender of the Year, the Midfielder of the Year, the Striker of the Year, the Top Scorer, Turbokozak, the Coach of the Season and the Discovery of the Season. The nominees had been selected during the Journalists' Competition Jury two weeks earlier. For the first time, the jury selected the winners in most prize categories. The choice of the Player of the Season was left to the players and coaches of the Ekstraklasa clubs.

APPLICATIONSince November 2017, an official mobile application of Ekstraklasa has been available as an additional channel of communication with football fans. It is based on three key pillars: commercialisation of fans, including zero fans (who spend no money on the league), the building of community

around the league (users' profiles, messenger and comments in the match centre) and the construction of a database with the use of artificial intelligence technology. On an unprecedented scale, the database is also used to conduct surveys on the fans of the individual clubs and the Ekstraklasa league. In the future, this application can also be used as a tool for improving the value of media rights in the area of digital rights.

The application has already been downloaded more than 13,000 times by users who, on average, spend there one hour and twelve minutes per month. The new communication channel of Ekstraklasa is the second best reviewed official league application (Android) in Europe (after the Turkey league), being ahead of such professional football leagues as, for instance, La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League.

The mobile application is the second biggest non-television communication channel after Facebook, which offers, however, significantly different possibilities (databases, personalisation, activity points collection, notifications, etc.). Soon, it will also offer an extended gamification module (Quizzes), which complements basic functionalities. In the future, the application can also be used as a tool for improving the value of media rights in the area of digital rights.

The mobile application of Ekstraklasa has significantly extended the range of the league communication channels. It can be perceived both as a solution that is supplemental to broadcasts (second screen experience), and as a source of entertainment and information. It stands out from other sports applications mainly with the scale of its extensive social platform. The possibility of creating a network of friends and an embedded messenger allow for sharing impressions about matches with other users who cheer on the same or a different football team. This function is available also in group conversations, to which users can invite fans of individual football clubs. As users run their own profiles, all content and information published in the mobile application is personalised and based on the belonging to the community of fans of a given football club.

This application also uses two additional functions of mobile devices. The first one is the feature of a camera, which makes it possible to publish one's own personalised photos on social media channels. Each photo taken, e.g. when watching a football match, can be provided with a theme connected with one's favourite football club. Whereas, if users are looking for a place in their neighbourhood where they can watch a football match, the mobile application helps them in finding such a place with access to the broadcast based on the geolocalisation functions of their mobile device.

The mobile application “Closer to the Game” is also an extensive match centre, which is updated live in accordance with official statistics. Its functionalities make it possible to evaluate players' performance and award them with distinctions for the match, as well as comment on the game. The most active users have an opportunity of building their own user statuses, from “amateur” to “Ekstraklasa” level.

In the Ekstraklasa mobile application, it is possible to watch archival matches from the previous seasons and materials prepared by the Communication team and Ekstraklasa Live Park. It also contains feature materials on the backstage of the league, videos with the heroes of the games, clips presenting statistics and trivia. All these video materials break popularity records on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa social media channels. A major advantage of the mobile application, in the context of foreign markets, is the possibility of watching live broadcasts of all matches that are available on the Dailymotion channel. The mobile application also offers an insight into the articles published on the Ekstraklasa.org website.

Since the 31st matchweek, the mobile application of Ekstraklasa has also contained the replays of goals, which are published several minutes after a goal has been scored. It is the first solution of this kind on the Polish market of sports applications.

The goal replays are delivered in the form of notifications on mobile devices of users defined as the fans of a club playing in the match from which the video materials are provided in a given matchweek. In addition, other users can receive such notifications by adding a given fixture to the category of observed matches. From one match in a matchweek, there are delivered six videoclips at the maximum, several minutes after a scored goal or a penalty fail. The Near Live Clips technology is the next step towards the digital development of the league. The most valuable data concerning the pilot version of the Near Live Clips programme is a notification click-through rate at the level of 70%.

The application and all its solutions constitute one of the pillars of the Ekstraklasa offer and communication directed at football fans. It also comprises television broadcasts at the highest world-class level, fitness data, eSports and extensively developed social media. The mobile application is available in two language versions (Polish and English) and supports two key operating systems (iOS and Android).

SOCIAL MEDIAThe 2017/2018 season brought a very dynamic development of the official Ekstraklasa social media channels. For the time being, the league runs its official profiles on such social media channels as, among others, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

The highest growth was noted within the Facebook ecosystem, i.e. on the Ekstraklasa Facebook fanpage and on its official Instagram profile. Despite modifications to the Facebook algorithm, it was possible to nearly double the number of video views (views of videos produced by Ekstraklasa Live Park) to more than 35 million. At the same time, all posts published by Ekstraklasa on Facebook in the 2017/2018 season were viewed more than a quarter billion times. The most viewed video was the compilation of the best goalkeeper interventions, which reached more than 470,000 views. Same as it was in the previous year, Instagram was the fastest growing social media channel of Ekstraklasa. During this year, it has reached more than two million post likes and almost sixty million post views. Compared to the previous season, the number of Instagram followers jumped by as much as 70%. In the previous season, Twitter, which is the fastest source of official information on Ekstraklasa, attracted more than 20,000 new followers and, similarly to Instagram, it is already approaching the mark of 100,000 users. At the same time, Ekstraklasa posts were viewed with 25% higher frequency than in the previous edition of the games. It is worth to notice a huge growth in the number of video views. For the time being, this figure almost reaches three million views, which is five times more than it was in the previous season.

Significant growth also took place in two monetised communication channels. The number of subscriptions to the league's YouTube channel doubled, same as the number of video views. The Dailymotion channel intended for foreign Ekstraklasa fans also recorded a significant growth in activity, which was caused, among others, by information campaign directed at foreign stars of the league and the possibility of watching the matches via the Ekstraklasa mobile application. In the 2017/2018 season, new formats were introduced to the online communication channels of Ekstraklasa, which followed trends and, thus, allowed for further development of the official league channels. These formats included, among others, “Goal of the Day” (“Gol Dnia”), “Comic Ekstraklasa” (“Rysunkowa Ekstraklasa”), movie posters, introduction of fitness statistics to communications and InStat match data, or more-than-two-month-long campaign promoting the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery competition.

In the 2017/2018 season, the official website of the Ekstraklasa league (Ekstraklasa.org) was redesigned. Now, being functional and transparent, it contains, among others, the schedule of fixtures, statistics, match highlights, as well as informational and journalistic articles. The homepage also contains counters that indicate time left to the next match and match attendance on the Ekstraklasa stadiums. It also contains feeds (current news / posts) from the official channels of LOTTO Ekstraklasa on Twitter and Facebook.

The new website of Ekstraklasa is fully responsive, which means that it is displayed equally well on the desktop and mobile screens, including smartphones and tablets. It offers access to any compendium of knowledge on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa.

eSPORTSFor the tenth time in history (and for the fifth time in a row), Ekstraklasa granted a licence on the league events to the manufacturer of the FIFA games series – an international company Electronic Arts. This contract is valid from the 2016/2017 season until the 2020/2021 season. In consequence, the top-class Polish football league was included in the FIFA 18 game, which premièred on 29 September 2017. The logotype of Ekstraklasa was published on the game cover. It is the only football game simulator on the games market, which owns a licence on the presence of the top-class Polish football league and its participants. Thanks to the above, it is possible to play seasons with one's favourite Polish football club and its real composition of players. The licence also covers the presence of the Ekstraklasa players in the game. In the latest version, some elements related to Ekstraklasa have been modified. Apart from adding the league newcomers, all team compositions and match kits have been updated. There were also added advertising elements with the Ekstraklasa logotype, including the tunnel, stand and LED bands

around the pitch. Before each match, the real table of Ekstraklasa appears and is updated in an online mode.

In cooperation with the publisher of the FIFA game, Electronic Arts, and the nc+ television, Ekstraklasa organised the second edition of the EA SPORTS FIFA Ekstraklasa Cup where sixteen teams of the LOTTO Ekstraklasa league competed in a two-person team composed of a player and a fan. One of the participants was Carlitos from Wisła Kraków, the subsequent Top Scorer of the league. Some clubs set up teams consisting of a football player and their own official esports player. Legia Warszawa was represented by the current FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Polish Champion Miłosz Bogdanowski, while the newly established esports section of Arka Gdynia was represented by Bartosz Tritt, a veteran of the FIFA scene. The teams competed in a tournament system. First, they played in four groups, four teams each. Next, eight teams that left group stage competed in the knockout stage. In the end, the best team was Cracovia.

The event was headed by players who are recognised for running YouTube channels on the FIFA game and who live commented on the matches played by the participants. The video coverage from the tournament was shared on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa, EA SPORTS FIFA Poland and CANAL+ Sport social media channels.

Another licensee from the computer games industry is SEGA, an international company producing the Football Manager series. Ekstraklasa was included in the last position in this series, for the second time in history. It means that its users received an updated database of players, coaching staff and stadiums. The game went on sale on 10 November 2017. A distribution partner of SEGA® Europe Ltd. in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary is Cenega. The localisation of the game into the Polish language was the responsibility of the global game publisher. SEGA is also the partner of the Coach of the Month prize, while the trophy for the best coach of the league in a given month is modelled on the cover of the Football Manager game.

PUBLIC ACTIVITYIn September 2017, the representation of Ekstraklasa SA, headed by the then President of the Management Board Dariusz Marzec, promoted the top-class Polish football league competitions at the Economic Forum in Krynica. At the Ekstraklasa stand, the visitors could see the Trophy of the Polish Champion and the medals for the best LOTTO Ekstraklasa teams.

Between 23 and 26 of October 2017, Ekstraklasa and Ekstraklasa Live Park participated in SPORTEL, the biggest sports marketing and sports media fairs in the world. For the company managing the top-class Polish football league, it was

an occasion to meet the key representatives of the media market from all over the world.

Ekstraklasa has participated in this fair since 2012, however, it was the first time in history when it was present at the fair also as an exhibitor, next to Bundesliga, La Liga, NBA and NFL. In cooperation with its subsidiary, Ekstraklasa Live Park, the company presented the league of sixteen best football clubs in Poland at its stands. The representatives of Ekstraklasa and Ekstraklasa Live Park met on behalf of the clubs with the representatives of international media companies, TV stations, foreign professional leagues and companies operating on the market of television rights. The presence of Ekstraklasa at the SPORTEL Monaco fairs was financed from the EU funds, precisely from the European Regional Development Fund.

Ekstraklasa SA and the Ekstraklasa Foundation are leaders of the project “Against Match Fixing”. It is conducted with the use of the EU funds from the Erasmus+ Sport programme. The aim of this project is to raise awareness among young players on the risks and hazards associated with match-fixing. Under the programme named “Don't Be a Pawn in the Game”, there are conducted trainings with the participation of about 1,500 young players per year. The conference on this issue, which was organised by Ekstraklasa SA in Warsaw in February 2018, was attended, among others, by the representatives of organisations from such countries as Macedonia, Bulgaria, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy.

The second stage of the project encompasses motivational trainings for young players, which will be conducted in the form of a teleconference. Besides, there will be developed generally available training and educational materials, which will be then distributed in football clubs, academies and football schools throughout the whole country. There will also be created an e-learning platform and a mobile application with publicly available trainings and educational materials, as well as guidelines for players and other groups exposed to this phenomenon.

Ekstraklasa SA was also the patron of the international SCIENCE4FOOTBALL congress, which took place at the Legia stadium on 1 and 2 May, 2018. This is the most occupied conference in Poland dedicated to such subjects as motor skills, nutrition, prevention, regeneration, and psychology. During the SCIENCE4FOOTBALL congress, the latest scientific trends and their practical application in the football world were presented. One of the special guests at this event was the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA Marcin Animucki. The company recommended and invited other clubs participating in the top-class Polish football league to take part in two-day lectures and talks run by the co-workers of the leading European teams.

The activity of Ekstraklasa SA has been noticed on the

international forum. The President of the Management Board Marcin Animucki was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the European Leagues to replace Dariusz Marzec in this position. The European Leagues is an organisation bringing together all professional football leagues in Europe. Thus, Ekstraklasa gained the possibility of expressing its opinions on any solutions concerning the future of the league football in Europe. The decision concerning this appointment was taken by the General Assembly of the European Leagues, which was held in Edinburgh. Marcin Animucki was selected by an unanimous decision of the assembly members. As a result, he became a member of a twelve-person group bringing together the representatives of such football leagues as Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Premier League, and La Liga.

Apart from the representative of the Russian football league, Marcin Animucki is the only representative of the Central and Eastern European leagues in the management board of the European Leagues. His election is another distinction for the Polish football on an international scene.

In April 2017, Zbigniew Boniek, the President of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) became the Member of the UEFA Executive Committee. In the same month, Dariusz Mioduski, the President of Legia Warszawa, became the Vice-President of the European Club Association (ECA), the biggest organisation bringing together professional football clubs on the Old Continent.

In April 2018, Marcin Animucki, the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA, took part in the Congress of Local Governments held in Cracow. During this congress, the debate was run under the title “Sports Local Government – Why Is It Worth It?” At this debate, the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA addressed such issues as the promotion of local government by the Ekstraklasa clubs, or the construction of stadiums and training infrastructure by local governments. He also mentioned the cooperation between the clubs and the cities

with regard to sports activities for children and the youth and the facilities for football fans on match days.

EXTRA CLASS ACADEMIES/ EXTRA TALENT One of the newest areas of Ekstraklasa SA operations is pursuing the development of sports through the prism of football and the growth of football clubs participating in the top-class Polish football league. In cooperation with the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, Ekstraklasa SA strives to promote football among the youngest fans by conducting activities that raise public awareness on the importance of general physical activity. The above operations are also performed by raising funding for the following projects: “Extra Club” (“Ekstra Klub”), “Extra Fun” (“Ekstra Zabawa”) and “Extra Talent” (“Ekstra Talent”). These actions are aimed at supporting the development of the Ekstraklasa clubs' academies, improving the communication of their offer and enabling access to as large a group of young football players and their parents as possible.

In September 2017, the second edition of the “Extra Talent” (“Ekstra Talent”) programme was launched. Within a month, there were sixteen tournaments played, which were hosted by the league clubs and their youth academies. Approximately three thousand children aged less than twelve took part in the entire series.

Not only did participants compete with their peers in tournaments played on professional stadiums but also each child underwent a fitness assessment test in accordance with the EU-wide EUROFIT standard as part of building a national database of sports talents. Such performance tests comprise three exercises: bent arm hang, 10 x 5 meter shuttle run and endurance shuttle run (so-called beep test).

At the turn of May and June 2018, there was initiated a series of the “Extra Class Academies” (“Akademie Klasy Ekstra”)

offering a one-day training programme for children aged 3 to 11. Young people had a unique opportunity to meet the coaching staff and players of the league teams. With the support of the trainers, they learned the components of a professional training and could hear valuable advice concerning the proper physical development.

The purpose of the “Extra Class Academies” (“Akademie Klasy Ekstra”), which have been organised with the support of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism since 2016, is to promote physical activity among the youngest and bring together local communities and local football clubs. In this year's edition, apart from 27,500 children, the programme was participated by almost 17,000 parents and carers. The grand finale at the Legia Warszawa stadium was the most popular event. The facility located at the Łazienkowska street gathered about 11,000 children. A high attendance rate was also noted at trainings organised in Białystok (7,000 participants) and Kielce (4,400 participants). This year's edition started in Płock and ended in Warsaw.

The significant support provided by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism also includes the co-funding of the construction of football facilities in clubs, including football pitches and training halls, as well as academies for children and the youth. At the beginning of June 2018, the funding was also granted to Cracovia (PLN 8 million) and Jagiellonia Białystok (PLN 5.2 million). In the previous years, the co-funding for the construction of a pitch and a pneumatic hall (PLN 2 million) was granted to Lech Poznań. Legia Warszawa also received funding (PLN 11 million) for the construction of a training facility in Grodzisk Mazowiecki.

CSR (SOCIAL INITIATIVES)This season, Ekstraklasa has taken patronage over several social initiatives, which are partly related to sports.

It is the third consecutive year, in which Ekstraklasa is involved in the “Noble Box Project” (“Szlachetna Paczka”). However, it was the first time when the mutual cooperation had such a wide scope. Several leading players of the league, including Sławomir Peszka, Jakub Kosecki and Carlitos, took part in the “I Like People” (“Lubię Ludzi”) campaign spot, which inaugu-rated this year's edition. The broadcast of the video clip launched so-called “National Whip-Round” (“Zrzuta Narodo-wa”), which financially supported the Noble Box Project. The whip-round was promoted in all Ekstraklasa communication channels and in television stations broadcasting the league competitions. The volunteers from the SPRING Association (“Stowarzyszenie WIOSNA”) raised money for the initiative at the fixtures played in the 12th and 13th matchweeks. Specially for the occasion of the whip-round, Ekstraklasa also manufac-tured a limited edition of a football scarf that could be purcha-sed in charity auctions on the Allegro website. All proceeds

from the sale of these scarves were spent to help those in need.

In the 6th and 7th matchweek of the 2017/2018 season, the collection of school accessories for people in need took place in cooperation with the “Beautiful Angels Association” (“Stowa-rzyszenie Piękne Anioły”). The Ombudsman for Children took patronage over this charitable collection. Ekstraklasa also supported this action.

Ekstraklasa SA did not forget about its sports character and got involved in numerous actions conducted with an aim of promoting general physical activity. Among others, as a member of the EPFL, it got engaged in the European Week of Sport #BeActive. The league was also involved in actions organised in cooperation with the “SOS Children's Villages Association” (“Fundacja SOS Wioski Dziecięce”) and the Special Olympics.

The company also took patronage over several other sports initiatives. It was, among others, the Polish Sports Photo-graphy Contest organised by the Press Focus agency, Press-photocenter and the City of Szczecinek. This year, for the second time, the special prize was awarded for a photo taken at the LOTTO Ekstraklasa match. The author of the winning photo was Rafał Gąglewski who took a photo of Dusan Kuciak swaying for the ball in the air in the match between Legia Warszawa and Lechia Gdańsk held in the 37th matchweek of the 2016/2017 season. The special prize for the winner was the Aztorin watch from the series of the Official Watches of Ekstra-klasa.

Ekstraklasa SA also took patronage over the book written by Paweł Czado and entitled “Górnik Zabrze. The Story About The Heyday” (“Górnik Zabrze. Opowieść o złotych latach”) published by Agora SA. The book tells the story on the three decades of golden years of Górnik Zabrze, during which the team dominated on the national playground. The premiere of the book took place in September 2017.

Together with the Kozminski University in Warsaw, Ekstrakla-sa SA organised another edition of postgraduate studies called “FIFA/CIES Programme in Sports Management”. Ekstraklasa SA performs a role of a content-related partner in this initiati-ve. The framework of this programme has been developed by CIES and is currently being carried out in alignment with local specifics in more than a dozen countries all over the world. The classes are conducted both by academic teachers and outstan-ding practitioners representing the world of sports and business (including, among others, Marcin Animucki, Michał Pol, Marek Karpiński, and Marek Pałus). The programme ends with the presentation of a diploma project. The authors of the best projects have a chance of applying for a prestigious FIFA Master scholarship, together with their colleagues from other countries, and carry on education on an international level.

EKSTRAKLASA AS A COMPANY- HISTORY OF EKSTRAKLASA SA- SHAREHOLDERS' STRUCTURE OF EKSTRAKLASA SA- ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF EKSTRAKLASA SA- KEY BUSINESS PURPOSES

EKSTRAKLASA AS A LEAGUE- SEASON 2017/2018- THE LEAGUE SYSTEM- VIDEO ASSISTANT REFEREE (VAR)- ADVANCED MATCH STATISTICS

EKSTRAKLASA AS A BRAND- MEDIA RIGHTS- VIEWERSHIP- MATCH ATTENDANCE- MARKETING RIGHTS- DEDICATED PRODUCTS- MARKETING ACTIVITIES- MOBILE APPLICATION- SOCIAL MEDIA- ESPORTS- PUBLIC ACTIVITY- EXTRA CLASS ACADEMIES / EXTRA TALENT- CSR (SOCIAL INITIATIVES)- EKSTRAKLASA LEGENDS GALLERY

EKSTRAKLASA FINANCES

EKSTRAKLASA CLUBS

EKSTRAKLASA LEGENDS GALLERYThe crowning of the celebrations of the jubilee ninetieth anniversary of the top-class Polish football league were the elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery. The elections were conducted among Ekstraklasa fans and experts. Based on the votes, twenty two players were selected to be included in the ranking for their great achievements.

The ninety years of existence of the league competitions in Poland were divided into seven sub-periods: 1927-1939, 1948-1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1980, 1981-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-2010. For each of these sub-periods, there was created a list of fifteen candidates for which votes could be cast via the official Ekstraklasa application “Closer to the Game”. In total, more than 21,000 votes were cast in the contest.

The votes cast via the mobile application were added up with the experts' choices. The organisers of the initiative invited two persons to perform the role of an expert for each sub-period. The invited experts were recognised journalists, coaches, former players and sports activists, including: Wojciech Frączek (the creator of the Ekstraklasa Encyclopaedia) Andrzej Gowarzewski (the creator of the FUJI football encyclopaedia), Andrzej Iwan (the WC medallist in football), Ryszard Niemiec (the former editor-in-chief at three newspapers, currently the President of the Lesser Poland Football Association (Małopolski Związek Piłki Nożnej), Paweł Czado (the journalist at “Gazeta Wyborcza”, author of books), Zbigniew Mroziński (the journalist at “Piłka Nożna”), Jacek Gmoch (the former Polish national team manager), Dariusz Szpakowski (the Polish Television journalist), Janusz Basałaj (the creator of Canal+ in Poland, the former editor-in-chief of “Przegląd Sportowy”, currently the Director of Communications Department in the Polish Football Association (PZPN)), Andrzej Janisz (the journalist at Polish Radio), Jerzy Engel (the former Polish national team manager), Robert Błoński (the journalist at “Przegląd Sportowy”), Żelisław Żyżyński (the journalist at Canal+), and Marcin Rosłoń

(the former player of Legia Warszawa, now the journalist at Canal+). In the end, twenty one successful candidates were selected. The twenty second laureate was the player with the highest number of votes cast by fans, who did not find a place in the top “three” of a given period.

For the time being, the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery is composed of the following personalities: Ernest Wilimowski, Henryk Reyman, Teodor Peterek, Gerard Cieślik, Ernest Pohl, Lucjan Brychczy, Włodzimierz Lubański, Hubert Kostka, Stanisław Oślizło, Kazimierz Deyna, Grzegorz Lato, Andrzej Szarmach, Zbigniew Boniek, Włodzimierz Smolarek, Mirosław Okoński, Marek Citko, Maciej Szczęsny, Jacek Zieliński, Tomasz Frankowski, Maciej Żurawski, Robert Lewandowski, and Andrzej Juskowiak. In the next five years, the voting for the period of 2011-2020 and the supplementation of the Gallery with several new names from previous decades are planned.

The first winners were awarded during the 2018 Ekstraklasa Gala. The following persons received commemorative prizes from the President of the Management Board at Ekstraklasa SA: Lucjan Brychczy, Włodzimierz Lubański, Zbigniew Boniek, Maciej Szczęsny, and Tomasz Frankowski. The remaining members of the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery will be awarded on the occasion of other events, such as important league matches.

Each period presented in the mobile application was described by at least three movie materials developed with the participation of the invited experts and produced by Ekstraklasa Live Park. One of them outlined the context of the old times, while two other materials presented the voices of jury members and the reasons behind their choices. There were also bonus materials (including the announcement of the campaign with the participation of Zbigniew Boniek and Marcin Animucki). In total, there were twenty six video clips offering one hundred thirty minutes of recordings on the legends of the Polish football.

An integral part of the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery were also rich bios of all candidates that were published in the mobile application. They were viewed more than 14,000 times and users spent 12 minutes on reading them, on average. Soon, in an extended version, these materials will be published in the form of a book crowning the first edition of the elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery. The creation of a bigger production based on the available materials is also planned.The elections to the Ekstraklasa Legends Gallery were promoted, among others, in the league’s own communication channels. All video materials published on these channels were viewed more than 300,000 times. They reached more than 1,200,000 users. #MyLegends (#MojeLegendy) hashtag assigned to the campaign was mentioned on Twitter more than 200 times. Fourteen articles were published on the website. The description of each candidate was enhanced with a separate occasional graphic material. All these materials were shared on the Ekstraklasa communication channels.

The design of the ball refers to the legendary product of the Adidas brand, which was developed for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. It was the first Official FIFA World Cup Match Ball in history, with its distinctive thirty two black and white panels painted to make it more visible during TV broadcasts. In the colour version of 2018, the ball panels are silver metallic.

The official distributor of the ball was 50style, a retail chain of sports shops. The ball was also presented at numerous promotional initiatives undertaken by Ekstraklasa. Adidas was, among others, the founder of the Top Scorer prize awarded during the official season summary at the Ekstraklasa Gala event.

OFFICIAL BRAND OF WATCHESAztorin remained the Official Brand of Watches on the list of Ekstraklasa partners. The company has guaranteed presence on TV graphics during all Ekstraklasa matches and on the Ekstraklasa stadiums. Furthermore, the brand is a regular guest in all marketing, advertising, promotional and informational activities performed by Ekstraklasa in relation to the competitions. In the 2017/2018 season, the cooperation resulted in the continued promotion and the sale of a personalized watch model of this brand.

Aztorin was also one of the partners of the Player of the Month contests and a number of dedicated video productions carried out this season.

LICENSEESMoreover, the sponsor pyramid offered by Ekstraklasa SA includes a range of titles for suppliers and licensees. Depending on the type of conducted business activity, the cooperation with Ekstraklasa facilitates the introduction or strengthening of an existing partner's product and its brand promotion.

In the 2017/2018 season, Ekstraklasa continued cooperation, among others, with Panini, a global leader on the collectibles market. For the fans of the Polish league championships, a special collection of Panini brand – LOTTO EKSTRAKLASA Adrenalyn XL 2017-2018 – was developed. The organiser of the games also granted a licence to renowned manufacturers from the sports games market – SEGA and Electronic Arts – for their products.

Ekstraklasa SA also cooperates with the Polish Security Printing Works (Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych, PWPW). The company administers the Central System for Identification of Participants of Football Matches. The maintenance of this system follows from the obligation imposed on Ekstraklasa SA and its clubs by the Act on mass event safety. The system enables all football clubs participating

in the Ekstraklasa games to identify participants of matches in a comfortable and safe manner, among others, through the integration with a database containing football club and judicial stadium bans. Each year, Ekstraklasa SA also grants licensing rights for the use of the results of the Ekstraklasa matches to all bookmakers legally operating on the Polish market.

DEDICATED PRODUCTSLOTTO EKSTRAKLASA SCRATCH CARDFor the second consecutive season, the title partner of the league and the owner of the LOTTO brand – Totalizator Sportowy – offered a special LOTTO Ekstraklasa scratch card. After the first well-received edition, the prize pool exceeded PLN 17.4 million in the second edition. Thus, it grew by almost PLN 5.8 million. The circulation of the scratch card was also increased from 4 to 6 million copies. The number of main prizes (PLN 250,000) increased from two to three.

The scratch cards have been available for purchase in all of the LOTTO points of sale and through the authorised distribution network from 7 November 2017. From the 16th matchweek, the LOTTO points of sale were also launched on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa stadiums. The price of one scratch card was PLN 5.00. It was also the lowest possible amount that could be won with such a scratch card.

AZTORIN EKSTRAKLASA WATCHThis season, the Aztorin brand offered a licensed Ekstraklasa watch which was dedicated to the fans of the home games. The watch is equipped with functions that are useful during any match, including a timer and an indicator of injury time. It is adorned with the logotype of the Ekstraklasa league.

OSHEEThe contract with OSHEE was concluded in 2016. The beverages market leader is the Official Partner of the Ekstraklasa games and the Social Media Partner of Ekstraklasa. Pursuant to the

contract, a limited edition of products marked with the Ekstraklasa logo was introduced in stores all over Poland. There were also isotonic drinks launched on the market and made available in two flavours, which were marked with the Ekstraklasa logotype and the emblems of all sixteen football clubs participating in the league in the 2017/2018 season.

MARKETING ACTIVITIES“What Is LOTTO Ekstraklasa For You?” – the first joint TV and online campaign of nc+ and LOTTO Ekstraklasa in history was launched on 21 August 2017. The advertising spot emphasised the meaning of the top-class Polish football league to its key heroes – players, fans, coaches and referees.

The main assumption was to present various meanings, feelings and emotions, which are evoked by the LOTTO Ekstraklasa games. The advertising spot was developed in cooperation with Ekstraklasa SA. The author of this creative was Havas Warsaw. It was directed by Łukasz Słotwiński, a creative director at nc+. Havas Media was responsible for planning and buying media. The marketing department of Ekstraklasa SA was responsible for communication with players, coaches and referees as part of the project logistics.

Ekstraklasa was also involved in the celebration of the “Player Day” falling on the day of 10 September to celebrate the anniversary of the Polish victory over the Hungarian team in the Olympic Games final. The symbols connected with this anniversary were displayed on the LOTTO Ekstraklasa stadiums in the 8th matchweek of the competitions. This campaign was conducted under the slogan #OneTeam #OneGoal (#Jedna Drużyna #WspólnyCel). It was organised in cooperation between the Polish Association of Football Players, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and Ekstraklasa SA.

This season, Ekstraklasa went on with actions from the previous

years, including a solemn setting of fixtures on the occasion of the Polish Army Day in August 2017. Each of these matches began with a presentation of the national flag. Then, the national anthem was played, while players and refer