Illegal Soccer Streaming: How COVID-19 exacerbated online piracy

Rafiel | December 27th, 2020

Along with countless other things, the pandemic has ruined experiences for sports fans across the world - myself included - as strict social distancing protocols have led to empty stadiums and bars on game days. As a result, fans have taken alternative approaches to support their teams and watch the sport they love. Purchasing a legal online subscription to a company like DAZN or Sky Sports would be the ideal option, but many people -- young fans in particular -- have weaved their way around these legal methods of viewership. These subscriptions are costly, and many fans are unable to afford them or feel that they are not worth the money. Pirated streams and illegal streaming services offer fans the same experience for free, with the cost of a couple of annoying ads on their screen. With more than half of young people already using illegal streaming services to watch their favourite sports, it was inevitable that this activity would rise during the pandemic (1). However, despite the joy and relief for fans as they watch games for free, many teams and sports leagues around the world are suffering from these pirated streams. They want to take action. Serious, immediate, and commanding action (2).

Rewind to a couple of years ago, a study performed by the Sport Industry Group (SIG) found that “54% of millennials have watched illegal streams of live sports and a third admit to regularly watching them, compared to only 4% of over-35s" (3). These findings were astounding and revealed a dangerous trend amongst young sports fans. They were normalizing illegal behaviour, which would later transpire into an epidemic of online piracy. In response, sports leagues were prepared to fight back in order to preserve their business plans and sustain financial stability. The Premier League, England’s top-tier league for professional soccer teams, initiated an investigation in early 2017 to combat the influx of illegal streams and pirated websites (4). Sky Sports and BT Sports are two of the most popular companies that have purchased legal streaming rights from the Premier League. In fear that the streaming of soccer matches on illegal websites would ruin business for these companies, the league knew that they could not wait any longer. They caught a number of people trying to distribute devices that encouraged online streaming and even went as far as to “[seize] equipment belonging to the ISP Y Internet, and in Belfast, two business premises were stripped of ‘a range of TV and computer equipment.’” (5). To clarify, ISP stands for internet service provider and as detailed in the quote, authorities seized equipment from this provider in an attempt to halt any illegal activity.

However, the most significant course of action was taken when “Judge Richard Arnold granted an order in the high court to allow the UK’s four biggest ISPs to block access to entire online servers.” (6). This course of action would prevent many pirated servers from bypassing a company’s security and block them from being able to broadcast their streams online. Although this served as a temporary fix, it did not solve the problem. The order was only passed within the UK, which left the doors open for people in other countries to continue illegally streaming and distributing devices to promote online piracy. This loophole in the court order would later come back to haunt the Premier League in 2020. With the internet being such a vast and unending source of information across the world, leagues are finding it extremely challenging to stop illegal streaming. Solutions are difficult to produce, but orders like these, passed by high courts, help sports leagues make their intentions clear; online piracy will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Fast forward to 2020, and things have taken a turn for the worse. The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced us all to stay home and with social distancing orders placed all around the world, sports fans have no other option but to stream games from home. This change of scenery suggests that “people may need a grab-bag of digital subscriptions and pay-per-view options to follow their clubs.” (7). As the pandemic unapologetically corrupted economies across the world, many people were left unable to pay for these pricey subscriptions. Inevitably, this led to an epidemic of illegal streaming and online piracy. Essentially, illegal streaming was a microcosm of the pandemic and “independent analysis [had] found illegal streaming of Premier League games costs clubs £1m per match” (8).

On top of financial losses, the pandemic made the fight against online piracy even more difficult for the Premier League. People were creating illegal streams all across the world, which creates a conflict with the high court order from 2017 because it only blocked online servers from ISP’s in the UK (9). The fight against online piracy was already an uphill battle for the Premier League, and the pandemic makes the path much steeper. But they were not ready to back down and would continue to fight. By implementing intricate anti-piracy programs, the Premier League obtained “technology to identify streams and [disrupt] them in real-time. This includes working with social media companies to make sure live streams don’t appear on their sites” (10). These measures would help the Premier League combat online piracy against matches in their league, but there are still many leagues in Europe that suffer from the same issues. In light of the recent increases in online piracy, “UEFA, the governing body of football in Europe, secured an order from the Irish High Court requiring several internet service providers (ISPs) to block the illegal live streaming of matches for the 2020/2021 season” (11). This was a massive step in the fight against online piracy. UEFA is widely regarded as the most popular confederation for soccer in the world as they host one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the UEFA Champions League (12). With high court orders enacted to combat illegal streaming in UEFA and Premier League-based matches, it is only a matter of time before soccer confederations around the world follow suit.

ISP’s and companies can find comfort in the orders from the high court, which helps fight the battle against illegal streams, but a solution is still difficult to make. As a young sports fan myself, I find that some television companies charge subscription fees that are beyond what the average young person can afford. Illegal streaming may not financially benefit a club -- especially during the pandemic -- but it certainly helps young fans, like me, keep up with the games and enjoy them for free from the comfort of our homes. Even if more court orders are passed to stop online piracy, “the widespread belief is that illegal streaming will never disappear. Instead, it will be a catalyst. Fuel for a rocket ship destined for what Silver, at Sloan, called a ‘new world.’” (13). It is easy to critique young sports fans and blame them for normalizing illegal behaviour, but companies need to use this as a sign. A sign that may suggest their fees are exclusive to older fans who are able to afford them, which leaves young fans at home searching for different ways to tune in. Compromising on an agreeable fee would be the ideal solution, but why bother when illegal streams will be around forever? I guess the battle will never end.

Endnotes

1. "More Than Half of Young People Watch Illegal Streams of Live Sports, Study Finds." The Guardian. Last modified November 27, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/apr/25/illegal-streams-live-sports-sports-industry-group.

2. "Lights Out for Illegal Streaming of European Soccer Matches As UEFA Secures High Court Order." Lexology. Last modified December 3, 2020. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3d3dd258-b467-424c-8102-a413729f5c8e.

3. "More Than Half of Young People Watch Illegal Streams of Live Sports, Study Finds." The Guardian. Last modified November 27, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/apr/25/illegal-streams-live-sports-sports-industry-group.

4. "Premier League Launches Major Fightback Against Illegal Streaming." The Guardian. Last modified November 27, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/29/premier-league-illegal-streaming-tv-audiences.

5. "Premier League Launches Major Fightback Against Illegal Streaming."

6. "Premier League Launches Major Fightback Against Illegal Streaming."

7. Burgess, Matt. "The Premier League is Back and It’s an Illegal Live Stream Disaster." WIRED UK. Last modified September 11, 2020. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/live-football-streams-premier-league-free.

8. Burgess, Matt. "The Premier League is Back and It’s an Illegal Live Stream Disaster."

9. "Premier League Launches Major Fightback Against Illegal Streaming." The Guardian. Last modified November 27, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/29/premier-league-illegal-streaming-tv-audiences.

10. Burgess, Matt. "The Premier League is Back and It’s an Illegal Live Stream Disaster." WIRED UK. Last modified September 11, 2020. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/live-football-streams-premier-league-free.

11. "Lights Out for Illegal Streaming of European Soccer Matches As UEFA Secures High Court Order." Lexology. Last modified December 3, 2020. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3d3dd258-b467-424c-8102-a413729f5c8e.

12. "Super Bowl Vs Champions League Final: The Battle to Be the Biggest Sporting Event." Football News, Views & Transfer Rumours | Football Whispers. Last modified August 23, 2020. https://footballwhispers.com/blog/super-bowl-champions-league-final-biggest-event/.

13. Bushnell, Henry. "Inside the Complex World of Illegal Sports Streaming." Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games. Last modified March 27, 2019. https://sports.yahoo.com/inside-the-complex-world-of-illegal-sports-streaming-040816430.html.