| abstract | - The 2016–17 Ekstraklasa (currently named Lotto Ekstraklasa due to sponsorship reasons) is the 83rd season of the Ekstraklasa, the top Polish professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1927. The league is operated by the Ekstraklasa SA. The season started on 16 July 2016, running to 4 June 2017. After the 20th matchday the league will be on winter break between 20 December 2016 and 9 February 2017. The regular season was played in a round-robin tournament. A total of 16 teams will be participating, 14 of which competed in the league during the 2015–16 season, while the remaining two were promoted from the I liga. The fixtures were announced on 1 June 2016. Each team plays a total of 30 matches, half at home and half away. After 30th round (at the end of April 2017), league will be split into two groups: championship round (top eight teams) and relegation round (bottom eight teams). Each team will play 7 more games (1-4 and 9-12 teams will play four times at home), starting with half the points achieved during the first phase of 30 matches. So, finally each team played a total of 37 matches. This is the fourth season to take place since the new playoff/playout rule has been introduced. The defending champions are Legia Warsaw, who won their 11th Polish title the previous season.
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