A leading sports broadcaster says the Premier League is winning the battle to shut down platforms offering illegal access to live matches.
The English top flight reportedly blocked more than 600,000 illegal live streams last season in a bid to protect their massive investment into football.
This figure is almost treble the number blocked in 2019, highlighting the scale of a problem which is costing broadcasters billions of pounds.
Plug-in internet protocol television (IPTV) devices supplied by tech-savvy criminal networks are considered the biggest threat to live sports rights holders.
They charge an annual subscription fee that is a fraction of the price of legitimate services, which allow users easy access to thousands of sports and entertainment channels.
Fans can watch live football, the most popular sports in North America and more, without feeling greedy broadcasters are exploiting them.
The head of anti-piracy at beIN SPORTS Cameron Andrews says IPTV devices are the biggest threat to broadcasters and the fees they pay to secure the rights to live sports.
The Premier League has shut down several networks, using legal channels to successfully prosecute and secure jail terms for piracy criminals.
“If you ask the Premier League, in the UK it is becoming harder and harder to watch games illegally,” Andrews told the Times.
“Based on the research they have done, the number of people using piracy to watch their content is falling.
“I think that is fair as in the UK they have a very comprehensive and effective blocking order which has made it harder to access pirate streams during Premier League games.”
With fans able to pay around £50-100 per year to access channels normally costing them thousands of pounds, it is easy to see why IPTV has become so popular.
By repurposing products such as the Amazon Fire Stick, IPTV providers effectively unlock a vast array of content that is generally out of reach for most people.
As evidenced by the upcoming live streaming schedule, barely a week goes by without at least one sport staging a major global event.
The issue of geo-blocking is a significant bugbear for many fans, particularly when it comes to accessing live Premier League matches.
While fans overseas can watch every game live, the ban on broadcasts of matches kicking off at 3.00 pm on Saturday restricts what is available to supporters in the United Kingdom.
An IPTV user in the UK admitted he knew the service was illegal but blasted the Premier League’s decision to prevent fans from watching live games.
“It’s the only way I can watch matches at 3.00 pm on Saturdays due to the blackout,” he said. “It’s a stupid rule – any other country can watch them.
“Also, with the cost of living now, the cost of subscriptions for everything is just impossible to justify when you can get it so cheaply.”
With many piracy organisations based in Asia and the Middle East, the Premier League and other rights holders find it difficult to monetise their content in those regions.
However, fans in the UK argue they are increasingly being priced out of watching their national sport because of the league’s thirst to make money.
With rights holders starting to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence technology to shut down piracy, fans may find their access to IPTV services severely limited in the future.
However, given the sophisticated nature of the organisations offering these services, they may find a way to continue providing illegal access to live sports.
