The cost of illegal football streaming in Latin America

La Liga, Spain's top football league, chose one of Buenos Aires' top hotels, the Palacio Duhau, to launch its "fight against audiovisual fraud in Latin America."

"They are stealing our product," said La Liga boss Javier Tebas, pointing the finger at US tech companies such as X, Cloudfare or Google, who have refused to cooperate, thus making themselves accomplices to the illegal distribution or access to transmissions.

The perpetrators' aim is to generate profits through advertising revenue, including by distributing content illegally. A short time later, Hernan Donnari, CEO of the media company and rights holder 1190 Sports, added: "This is also about jobs that are at risk."

Entertainment industry losing billions

Professional football has long been a central component of the entertainment industry. Be it music, film or the cultural sector, all are struggling with the consequences of global video piracy. Illegal streaming services offer live broadcasts for a fraction of the cost of a legal subscription.

It is not surprising that such services are offering their product in Latin America, parts of which are economically challenged. In recent years, more than half of the population of Argentina, which hosted the conference, has been living below the poverty line. This doesn't stop Latin American football fans from wanting to watch the top leagues – leading many to turn to cheaper, illegal content distributors.

At the end of November, the European police authority Europol reported the arrest of 11 members of a gang allegedly involved in illegal streaming. In total, the law enforcement agency identified 102 suspects. More than 2,500 TV channels, including sports channels, are said to have hijacked video material and made it available to over 22 million users worldwide – without the consent of the rights holders.

Studies quantify the losses

Various studies reveal the economic extent of the damage. In March 2021, Synamedia published a study that put the annual global cost of video piracy at around $28 billion (€26.7 billion). A study conducted by the rights protection agency APAA estimated that pay-TV operators suffered losses of around €3.2 billion in 2021 due to internet protocol streaming (IPTV) piracy alone. At the same time, illegal operators made profits of around €1 billion euros. The APAA calculated an annual economic loss of €1.8 billion due to the piracy of live events.

Organized crime's new business model

"It's no longer about individuals with a Robin Hood mindset illegally uploading videos. What is now happening is that organized crime has discovered video piracy as a new business model," Oliver Pribramsky, head of Rights Management, Technologies & Archive at the German Football League (DFL) told DW.

Pribamsky is responsible for protecting the audiovisual product of professional football and closely monitors developments in various committees. The piracy of football broadcasts is so attractive for organized crime because it generates high profit margins without requiring any existential risk, as would be the case with something like drug trafficking.

According to Pribramsky, this has led to the creation of "highly professional illegal structures." The main distribution channels are illegal servers that are difficult to access and from which subscription models are operated. It is now up to the authorities and politicians to take stronger action against organized crime.

More than a 'trivial offense'

In Germany, Sky, owner of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 broadcasting rights, is actively trying to defend itself against video piracy.

"For us, piracy is not a trivial offense. We also make no distinction in our approach between large and small providers. We investigate those who distribute our content illegally. And they can expect legal action," a Sky spokesperson told DW.

"In addition, we support awareness campaigns such as BeStreamWise.com, which aim to make consumers aware of the risks they run when they access content illegally."

This article was originally published in German.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding