{"id":41835,"date":"2025-09-10T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weisetech.dev\/fc-barcelona-noticias\/en\/the-impact-of-pirate-football-on-the-major-leagues-of-europe_314636_102\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:37:35","slug":"the-impact-of-pirate-football-on-the-major-leagues-of-europe_314636_102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fcbarcelonanoticias.com\/en\/football\/the-impact-of-pirate-football-on-the-major-leagues-of-europe_314636_102.html","title":{"rendered":"The impact of illegal broadcasts on European football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Piracy in sports broadcasts in Europe presents a heterogeneous but universally worrying picture. We analyze the situation in England, Germany and Italy<\/h2> \r\n
\r\n \r\n \r\n Calendar of FC Barcelona <\/a>\r\n<\/div>

The unprecedented increase in illegal broadcasts<\/strong> of sporting events, especially football matches<\/strong>, together with the low effectiveness of actions against piracy, is severely punishing the audiovisual sector.<\/p>

LaLiga has published a study on piracy in Spain<\/a><\/strong> and the data is chilling: in 2024, 10.8 million notifications were registered to digital intermediaries for unauthorized broadcasts, while in the first six months of 2025 alone this figure has skyrocketed to 26.2 million notifications.<\/p>

International Comparison: the figures for the rest of Europe<\/h2>

What figures are recorded by the rest of the major European football leagues? Below we analyze the scope of illegal broadcasts in England, Germany and Italy:<\/p>

Premier League: Leader in actions but limited data<\/h3>

The Premier League, traditionally a pioneer in the fight against piracy, blocked more than 600,000 illegal streams<\/strong> during the 2022-23 season, tripling the figures from 2019 when 210,000 broadcasts were eliminated.<\/p>

“According to data from the first quarter of 2025, 59% of people in the United Kingdom who stated that they had seen pirated material accessed illegal sports content.”<\/p> <\/blockquote>

However, we do not yet have the most recent data on the impact of piracy in the last year. The British market has particular characteristics: modified Fire Stick devices<\/strong> account for approximately half of all football piracy in the United Kingdom<\/strong>.<\/p>

Bundesliga: scarce data but significant investment<\/h3>
\"Jugadores
Players of Borussia Dortmund celebrate a goal in the match against Freiburg in the Bundesliga<\/div> <\/div> <\/div>

The Bundesliga maintains a low profile in terms of public statistics on piracy. The German league secured its audiovisual rights for 4,484 million euros for the 2025-2029 cycle between Sky and DAZN<\/strong>, representing an increase of 2% compared to the previous cycle. However, no specific data has been published on the volume of piracy or its evolution in 2025.<\/p>

International collaboration is evident: LaLiga, Premier League and Bundesliga joined forces<\/strong> together with the Coalition against Piracy to achieve the blocking of 22 illegal streaming websites and 70 associated domains in the courts of Singapore.<\/p>

Serie A: the Italian case with a punitive approach<\/h3>

Italy presents a particularly worrying picture: 38% of Italians used illegal audiovisual content in 2024<\/strong>. This figure represents estimated losses of 2.2 billion euros in turnover, with a direct loss of 904 million euros and more than 12,000 jobs.<\/p>

The Italian response has been forceful and punitive. Between March and April 2025, the authorities identified and fined 2,282 individuals<\/strong> in 80 Italian provinces for illegal streaming of copyrighted content<\/strong>, particularly football. The fines ranged between 154 and 1,032 euros, based on a law that treats copyright infringement administratively rather than criminally.<\/p>

The CEO of Serie A, Luigi De Siervo, has been especially clear about the impact: “piracy deprives the system of more than 300 million euros a year for Serie A alone”<\/strong>. This figure translates directly into a lower capacity to sign elite players and develop youth programs.<\/p>

A problem of European scope<\/h2>

The final conclusion shows that sports piracy in Europe<\/strong> presents a heterogeneous but universally worrying picture. LaLiga faces the most critical situation, while Italy shows the highest rates of illegal consumption (38% of the population) but also the most energetic responses at the legal level.<\/p>

If you are interested in this topic and need more information, below is the direct link to the report prepared by the auditor Grant Thornton<\/strong><\/em> in collaboration with Live Content Coalition<\/strong><\/em> for LaLiga.<\/p>