Football and other premium TV being pirated at 'industrial scale'

[davieG]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3n7dx2174o

 

Graham Fraser
Technology Reporter

A lack of action by big tech firms is enabling the "industrial scale theft" of premium video services, especially live sport, a new report says.

The research by Enders Analysis, external accuses Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft of "ambivalence and inertia" over a problem it says costs broadcasters revenue and puts users at an increased risk of cyber-crime.

Gareth Sutcliffe and Ollie Meir, who authored the research, described the Amazon Fire Stick - which they argue is the device many people use to access illegal streams - as "a piracy enabler".

BBC News has contacted Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft for comment.

The piracy problem
Sports broadcasting is big business, with the total value of media rights across the world passing the $60bn (£44bn) mark last year.

The increasing cost of rights deals results in higher prices for fans at home, especially if they choose to pay for multiple services to watch their team play.

To get round this, some resort to illegal streams of big events.

Enders say there are often multiple streams of individual events - such as high profile football games - each of which can have tens of thousands of people watching them.

Bosses of big rights holders, Sky and DAZN, have previously warned piracy is causing a financial crisis in the broadcast industry, external.

There is a risk for users too.

The Enders report says fans watching football matches, for instance, via illegal streams are typically providing information such as credit card details and email addresses, leaving them vulnerable to malware and phishing scams.

Fire Stick in the firing line
The researchers looked at the European market and focussed on Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft.

While Meta, the owner of Facebook, was criticised for being the source of adverts for illegal streams, the technology of the other three was blamed for the increase in piracy.

The Amazon Fire Stick is a major cause of the problem, according to the report.

The device plugs into TVs and gives the viewer thousands of options to watch programmes from legitimate services including the BBC iPlayer and Netflix.

They are also being used to access illegal streams, particularly of live sport.

In November last year, a Liverpool man who sold Fire Stick devices he reconfigured to allow people to illegally stream Premier League football matches was jailed.

After uploading the unauthorised services on the Amazon product, he advertised them on Facebook.

Another man from Liverpool was given a two-year suspended sentence last year after modifying fire sticks and selling them on Facebook and WhatsApp.

According to data for the first quarter of this year, provided to Enders by Sky, 59% of people in UK who said they had watched pirated material in the last year while using a physical device said they had used a Amazon fire product.

The Enders report says the fire stick enables "billions of dollars in piracy" overall.

Depreciation of tech allows piracy to flourish

The researchers also pointed to the role played by the "continued depreciation" of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems, particularly those from Google and Microsoft.

This technology enables high quality streaming of premium content to devices. Two of the big players are Microsoft's PlayReady and Google's Widevine.

The authors argue the architecture of the DRM is largely unchanged, and due to a lack of maintenance by the big tech companies, PlayReady and Widevine "are now compromised across various security levels".

Mr Sutcliffe and Mr Meir said this has had "a seismic impact across the industry, and ultimately given piracy the upper hand by enabling theft of the highest quality content".

They added: "Over twenty years since launch, the DRM solutions provided by Google and Microsoft are in steep decline.

"A complete overhaul of the technology architecture, licensing, and support model is needed. Lack of engagement with content owners indicates this a low priority."

[AKCJ]

So long as prices are this unreasonable, people will resort to piracy.

 

I have zero sympathy with the likes of Sky and TNT.

[davieG]

3 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

So long as prices are this unreasonable, people will resort to piracy.

 

I have zero sympathy with the likes of Sky and TNT.

Plus 3 different hosts to not even see all the games and if you're not in the top 6 or so you'll be shown much less.

 

The 3 different hosts happened because we were in EU supposedly for the benefit of customers which it clearly isn't because there's no competition. All 3 or however many need to should show all the same games so you would then have genuine competition as the customers can then pick the best provider.

[AKCJ]

59 minutes ago, davieG said:

Plus 3 different hosts to not even see all the games and if you're not in the top 6 or so you'll be shown much less.

 

The 3 different hosts happened because we were in EU supposedly for the benefit of customers which it clearly isn't because there's no competition. All 3 or however many need to should show all the same games so you would then have genuine competition as the customers can then pick the best provider.

I've long since thought that the Premier League would absolutely mop up if they built their own Netflix style streaming platform.

 

Not like they're short for cash as it is but yeah. They could broadcast all over the world and keep their own profits as opposed to sharing with these TV companies.

[grobyfox1990]

4 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

I've long since thought that the Premier League would absolutely mop up if they built their own Netflix style streaming platform.

 

Not like they're short for cash as it is but yeah. They could broadcast all over the world and keep their own profits as opposed to sharing with these TV companies.

It's all so crooked, must be so many favours owed between the league and broadcasters who've built the product up to what it is now. If the PL went alone, the media will destroy them, the happy clappers would buy it, and the league prob know this. 

Articles like this show how much the media and Govt are in each other's pockets. Protecting broadcasters rights should not be anywhere near any public service to-do-list.

[leicsmac]

Same principle as other streaming services - as long as the companies are bidding highest for the right to solely host a particular item of entertainment, the consumer is being shafted. As long as the consumer is being shafted, a significant number of them will look to sail the high seas instead. 

 

Offer a reasonable fixed flat rate for each item - sporting match, movie or tv show - to each provider, let the lowest bid in terms of consumer price win, and watch such piracy become much less necessary. 

 

You don't ever stop the black market when you operate a legit market the way this one does now.

Edited 30 May 2025 by leicsmac

[urban.spaceman]

I will never, ever pay to watch football in this country while the status quo remains.

 

British consumers are expected to pay three separate broadcasters for access to just over half the amount of matches being played. 

 

Consumers in other countries get to pay less than half that, to one broadcaster, for access to every single Premier League match - OR they can walk into any pub and watch it for the price of a beer.

 

We as consumers are being ripped off.

 

Worse, the broadcaster's selection policies are being used as an excuse to give the "bigger" clubs more airtime, and therefore more money in facility fees and even greater exposure to more lucrative sponsorship and merchandising deals.

 

It's one of the many reasons we failed to progress after winning the league. We were the 5th highest earners that season and the selective broadcasting continued. It keeps the "big" clubs where they are.

 

People are actually going to prison for making the Premier League accessible to people who want to access it.

 

This has got to change. 

 

Pirate until it does. 

[Parafox]

19 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

I will never, ever pay to watch football in this country while the status quo remains.

 

British consumers are expected to pay three separate broadcasters for access to just over half the amount of matches being played. 

 

Consumers in other countries get to pay less than half that, to one broadcaster, for access to every single Premier League match - OR they can walk into any pub and watch it for the price of a beer.

 

We as consumers are being ripped off.

 

Worse, the broadcaster's selection policies are being used as an excuse to give the "bigger" clubs more airtime, and therefore more money in facility fees and even greater exposure to more lucrative sponsorship and merchandising deals.

 

It's one of the many reasons we failed to progress after winning the league. We were the 5th highest earners that season and the selective broadcasting continued. It keeps the "big" clubs where they are.

 

People are actually going to prison for making the Premier League accessible to people who want to access it.

 

This has got to change. 

 

Pirate until it does. 

 

This. Bang on.

[Corky]

If you want to watch most domestic and European football you need Sky, TNT, DAZN, Premier Sports and Amazon Prime.

 

It is too much.

[Bayfox]

On 04/06/2025 at 19:18, Corky said:

If you want to watch most domestic and European football you need Sky, TNT, DAZN, Premier Sports and Amazon Prime.

 

It is too much.

The fact that there's not even a domestic highlights deal for the Club world Cup tells you everything you need to know about modern football, now I know to many it's not gonna be a massive deal. But not being able to watch even a highlights package without signing up to yet another provider, I already pay for £ky. Netflix, disney etc there has to be a limit, I get the PL need a bidding war, but if they aren't gonna have there own platform anytime soon they need to start thinking about consumers. 

 

I accept they won't. 

 

* after typing this I now find out channel 5 has a deal with Danz. I retract my statement 😆 

Edited 8 June 2025 by Bayfox