Croatia - 1. HNL

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The Croatian First Football League, also known as Prva NHL or Hrvatski Telekom Prva Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the top football league operated by the Croatian Football Federation. It kicked off back in 1992, and it has been renamed numerous times due to changes to its main sponsor.

The first commercial name this league had was Prva HNL Ozujsko (from 2003 to 2007); then, it changed its name to T-Com Prva HNL from 2007 to 2011. The league was also named MAXtv Prva Liga from 2011 to 2017. It was changed to the Hrvatski Telekom Prva Liga ahead of the 2018/2019 season.

Just like most top European leagues, the Prva NHL operates with a relegation and promotion system. All the ten teams competing in the league face each other four times (two times at home, two away). The team that wins the most points earns the title and a spot in the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Champions League.

The second, third, and fourth-ranked teams enter the preliminary stages of the UEFA Europa League. Up to two teams can be relegated each season, as the club with the fewest points is automatically relegated to the Croatian Second Football League, and the next-to-last team after the 36 games enters a relegation playoff against the aforementioned league’s runners-up.

Media coverage
Media coverage of the Croatian First Football League has significantly improved. In the past, only one match in each round (derby match) was shown live on television. The first real change arrived during the 2008-2009 season where the Croatian national TV Network (HRT) broadcasted five matches on Sunday afternoons. Nevertheless, the project did not last and was canceled, mostly because of issues regarding fixture scheduling that surfaced during the period.

In November 2010, the Croatian First Football League, for the first time in its history, sold broadcasting rights to marketing agency Digitel Komunikacije for a period of five years, beginning with the 2011–12 season. After the negotiations fell through with the national broadcasting television HRT - which covered Prva HNL for the past twenty seasons - Digitel signed a deal with T-Hrvatski Telekom.