davieG Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40483486 More than a third of Premier League football fans say they regularly watch matches live online via unofficial streams, according to a BBC survey. The poll suggests younger adults are most likely to say they stream matches via unauthorised providers. Nearly a quarter of all fans surveyed regularly watch matches online via special technology, such as Kodi boxes. Sky and BT Sport hold the live rights for Premier League football, and unofficial streams are illegal. The Premier League says the law is catching up with pirates and that it will continue to protect its copyright. Details of the survey can be heard in full from 10:00 BST on BBC Radio 5 live A football fan explains why he watches Premier League football illegally. According to the poll of 1,000 people for 5 live Daily: Nearly half of fans say they have streamed a match online through an unofficial provider - just over a third do so at least once a month and about one in five at least once a week. The main reasons include a friend/family member doing it and they just watch; the quality of the stream; and because sports TV packages are considered not good value for money. Just under a third of fans do not know whether it is illegal to stream live Premier League matches online from unofficial providers, but another third believe it is always illegal. In April, a ruling by the European Court of Justice put pirated streams on the same legal footing as copyright-infringing downloads, making it illegal to watch them. Kieron Sharp, director general of the Federation against Copyright Theft (Fact), said: "People need to be aware that this is no longer a grey area, in fact it is very black and white. "If you are accessing content for free such as sport, TV and films for which you'd normally need a subscription, or go to the cinema, or buy a DVD, this is illegal. "As the old saying goes, if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is." The Premier League secured a record rights deal in 2015 The Premier League is seeking to protect the value of its TV deal, after Sky and BT Sport paid a record £5.136bn for rights to show live matches for three seasons. Last season saw the biggest drop in live Premier League TV viewing figures for seven years, hitting both Sky and BT. Sky saw a 14% drop, while viewing of BT channels dropped by 2%. This may have been caused in part by the relegation of well-supported teams such as Newcastle and Aston Villa, while Sky said it was also encouraged by the use of alternative legal platforms such as Sky Go and Now TV. Earlier this year the Premier League announced what it described as its biggest ever anti-piracy crackdown, focusing on those who provide the streams and supply equipment. In March, a High Court judge granted an order for the UK's four biggest internet service providers to block access to online servers, making it harder for pirates to switch streams when they are shut down. A Premier League spokesman said: "Fans should know that these pre-loaded boxes enable pirate broadcasts of Premier League football, and other popular content, and are illegal. People who supply them have been jailed or ordered to pay significant financial penalties. "We are increasingly seeing prominent apps and add-ons being closed down as the law catches up with them, leading to consumers being out of pocket. "The Premier League will continue to protect its copyright, and the legitimate investment made by its broadcasting partners. Their contribution allows our clubs to develop and acquire players, invest in facilities and support the wider football pyramid and communities - all things that fans enjoy and society benefits from." What are Kodi boxes? Kodi turns compatible devices into a "media centre" Kodi is free software, built by volunteers, that is designed to bring videos, music, games and photographs together in one easy-to-use application. The developers behind Kodi say their software does not contain any content of its own and is designed to play legally owned media or content "freely available" on the internet. However, the software can be modified with third-party add-ons that provide access to pirated copies of films and TV series, or provide free access to subscription television channels. In March, a man from Hartlepool was given a suspended prison sentenceand ordered to pay £250,000 for selling Kodi boxes to pubs and clubs. For the BBC 5 live survey, ComRes interviewed 1,000 adults who report being regular viewers of Premier League football, online between 7 and 15 March. What were the survey's results? 36% of supporters said they streamed live Premier League matches online through an unofficial provider at least once a month, and 22% at least once a week. 47% of fans have watched a match through an unofficial provider at least once in the past. Younger fans (aged 18-34) are considerably more likely than their older counterparts to say they stream live football matches online through an unofficial provider - 65% do so at least once a month compared to 33% of 35-54 year olds and 13% of those aged 55+. Of those fans who stream matches illegally, the most popular reasons are because a friend/family member does it and they just watch (29%); because the quality of online streaming is good (25%) and because sports TV packages are not good value for money (24%). 12% per cent of Premier League fans think it is legal to stream games online (not through an official provider), while 34% think it is always illegal and 32% don't know; 4% believe it is not breaking the law but Sky or BT could fine you if they find out, 7% think it is sometimes illegal, and 10% per believe it is legal to watch but illegal to upload a stream.
Steven Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Easy to fix this. The PL needs to change its business model as this is the single factor driving online streaming.
Finnegan Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 What pissed me off reading that earlier was it was all threats and warnings and reminders that it's illegal and not a single quote implying "well, yeah, our bad. I guess people don't want to pay through the nose to watch sport legally on TV, we should change our approach."
lgfualol Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Probably even more than 1/3. People just don't want to admit it. I know a 73 year old that streams Leicester games Why would anyone pay BT and Sky however much a month - when you don't even get to choose what to watch? Just stupid.
Adster Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Maybe if they didn't make subscriptions to Sky/BT so expensive, we wouldn't have to!
yorkie1999 Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Stuff that, it's what the internet was supposed to be all about, until the corperates got involved and decided to make it their own, what i'd like to know is why are the bbc using licence payers money to conduct surveys about the rights and wrongs of a bit of innocent viewing of streams, that in all reality is not going to dent the bank, when they have been proven to turn a blind eye to some of the vilest perverts in recent memory, Who the fvck are they to start pointing the finger. And another thing, one of the main reasons bt, virgin and all the other isp's are providing superfast connections is so users can watch tv etc online, you don't really need a 100mbs connection to do a bit of online shopping or read some crap on wiki. I bet if people started saying to them can i have the cheap broadband connection because the only reason i paid for the fast connection was so i could watch football through my kodi box, they'd soon start panicking.
Nick Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 TV Season Tickets for your team or you get what you deserve.
Japanfox Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 I watch them out here ..... Gotta get my Leicester fix somehow?
Sol thewall Bamba Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Absolutely zero sympathy. Iirc Sky are haemorrhaging subscribers because of Kodi and streaming
LiberalFox Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 I don't know what they class as "illegal", but as far as I know there's no way to legally watch most Leicester games.
Captain... Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 The greater issue is 3 o'clock saturday kick offs, they are the games I stream, if it is on Sky or BT I currently don't have either, then I can go to the pub, go to a mates, pay for it one off on Now TV, but if it is only on some foreign satellite channel then what can you do? They really need to sort that Saturday 3 o'clock law out, it was brought in during the pre-Sky analogue age and is woefully out of date. They also need to address the fact that Sky and BT having rights is doubling the cost for the consumer whilst offering nothing better, competition means 2 brands offering the same thing on a level playing field, having them offering different games is like Puma and Adidas both selling football boots but they can't sell the same colour as the other one, the problem is you don't know what colours are available until after you have bought them.
Moksky Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 A huge percentage of the money ends up in players and agents pockets
Dr The Singh Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Have Fox brought Sky? If so, the 3 pm ruling may change in the future!
Marmite Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 I get to watch any premiership game and have Sky Sports and BT sports all for £50 a year. Why people pay for Sky nowadays is crazy
davieG Posted 4 July 2017 Author Posted 4 July 2017 1 minute ago, Captain... said: The greater issue is 3 o'clock saturday kick offs, they are the games I stream, if it is on Sky or BT I currently don't have either, then I can go to the pub, go to a mates, pay for it one off on Now TV, but if it is only on some foreign satellite channel then what can you do? They really need to sort that Saturday 3 o'clock law out, it was brought in during the pre-Sky analogue age and is woefully out of date. They also need to address the fact that Sky and BT having rights is doubling the cost for the consumer whilst offering nothing better, competition means 2 brands offering the same thing on a level playing field, having them offering different games is like Puma and Adidas both selling football boots but they can't sell the same colour as the other one, the problem is you don't know what colours are available until after you have bought them. I think the blame for that fits squarely on the shoulders of the EU and was supposedly/mistakenly done to give the Consumer choice. We should be called Connedsumers!
steveherbe Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 What about Mobdro, is that illegal as well? Just asking as I know someone locally who uses it all day and night - allegedly.
davieG Posted 4 July 2017 Author Posted 4 July 2017 2 minutes ago, Dr The Singh said: Have Fox brought Sky? If so, the 3 pm ruling may change in the future! The 3pm is down to the FA/FL.
davieG Posted 4 July 2017 Author Posted 4 July 2017 1 minute ago, steveherbe said: What about Mobdro, is that illegal as well? Just asking as I know someone locally who uses it all day and night - allegedly. If you're watching a PL game in England and it's not through Sky or BT then I think you can be fairly sure it's illegal.
Sambiasso Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Tbf I find Bt Sport good value for money, not sure what others pay with other providers but i get BT Sport free with my tv package but is going up to £4ish this summer. The simple solution is to make it accessible for all and not those living abroad. The scaremongering of Kodi boxes/streams makes me laugh, it isn't something you could ever stop it's the same with torrents/downloads.
Melbourne Fuchs Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 Only way I can watch it because of bloody Optus. Why does a TelCo have rights to the Prem anyway? You have to sign up to a phone plan to watch the games. Ridiculous.
yorkie1999 Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 19 minutes ago, Sambiasso said: Tbf I find Bt Sport good value for money, not sure what others pay with other providers but i get BT Sport free with my tv package but is going up to £4ish this summer. The simple solution is to make it accessible for all and not those living abroad. The scaremongering of Kodi boxes/streams makes me laugh, it isn't something you could ever stop it's the same with torrents/downloads. And the annoying thing is that, it's your isp, who you pay money to provide a service, is going to grass you up to the law. Bit like a drug pusher grassing up the people he sells drugs to.
LcFc_Smiv Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 It amazes me that a sport that is invested so heavily in by billionaire owners, massive sponsorship deals, and other corporations who take a large slice of the pie that the fans will always be the ones to suffer. I get that it's a business and the aim is to make money, but it's gone beyond that, the amount of money in football is insane but whether it's watching matches in person, or through tv we are being further and further priced out.
yorkie1999 Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 7 minutes ago, LcFc_Smiv said: It amazes me that a sport that is invested so heavily in by billionaire owners, massive sponsorship deals, and other corporations who take a large slice of the pie that the fans will always be the ones to suffer. I get that it's a business and the aim is to make money, but it's gone beyond that, the amount of money in football is insane but whether it's watching matches in person, or through tv we are being further and further priced out. Especially seeing that it's the fans that they are really selling. No fans at a football ground and you may as well watch Sunday league football, the players are there to entertain the crowd, they could have all the skill and all the money in the world, but without those fans, sky etc would not have a product to sell.
StanSP Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 is Kodi illegal in UK? It's obvious people will go to find streams or online coverage when we're so restricted in what we get to watch and when it costs so much if you want to watch live football legally.
Itsthejoeker Posted 4 July 2017 Posted 4 July 2017 American sports manage to have season passes to watch games online. They're not struggling for money!
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.