sport news Illegal streaming Q&A: Should fans be worried after five men were sentenced to ... trends now
The Premier League’s landmark case, believed to be the largest ever illegal streaming prosecution, has further highlighted the demand for illegal streaming created by the unavailability of many football matches on TV in the UK.
On Tuesday, five men were sentenced to more than 30 years in prison, total, after the Premier League brought about a private prosecution to clamp down on piracy.
The individuals involved, aged between 30 and 46, operated one of the UK's largest illicit streaming services - which has become seriously popular in recent years.
The gang operated one of the UK's largest illicit streaming services and made millions of pounds selling TV sticks to over 50,000 customers and resellers.
And so, here, Mail Sport have answered all the pressing questions that you may have over the historic clamp down on illegal streaming.
Five men have been sentenced after the Premier League brought a historic private prosecution to clamp down on illegal piracy and the streaming of matches
Mark Gould (pictured), 36, was one of the ringleaders for the multi-million-pound fraud operation that sold illegal streams of Premier League matches
Why is there a demand for illegal streaming?
One aspect which many believe is fundamental in the success of the illegal streaming sites is the because of the country's 'blackout' broadcasting rules.
In the UK, the ‘blackout’, which has been in place since the 1960s, aims to encourage fans to attend matches at all levels of football rather than watching on TV.
The UK is the only country to prohibit the broadcast of 3pm Saturday kick-offs. UEFA allows the Premier League to prevent broadcasts of UK matches between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on Saturdays.
Prosecutor David Groome told the court that the gang had exchanged messages saying the ‘blackout’ was good for business and accounted for 80% of subscribers.
That was because of the ability of Flawless (the name of the pirate streaming organisation) to offer subscribers 3pm Premier League games, which are otherwise only broadcast abroad.
During the sentencing and determining the value of their actions, one of the key elements the legal defence touched on was that some customers were actually buying these cut-price subscriptions as an addition, rather than in place of, existing subscription deals they had with Sky Sports, BT Sports and Amazon Prime - the current broadcasting rights holders in the UK.
How much does it cost to watch the Premier
