EFL claim they have lost almost £500,000 due to illegal streaming of matches in the Championship and below as they appeal to fans to help them eliminate threat of piracy
- Clubs in the EFL estimate more than £430,000 has been lost to illegal streaming
- Streaming the games not available on TV has brought in around about £8million
- It does not go far towards filling the £250m void of football behind closed doors
- A sharp increase in the rates of piracy, however, is causing concern for revenue
Clubs in the EFL estimate more than £430,000 has been lost to illegal streaming of games this season and have launched a campaign appealing to fans to help them beat the pirates.
Streaming the games not available on TV has brought in a total of about £8million across the 72 clubs in the Championship and Leagues One and Two.
It does not go far towards filling the £250m void of football behind closed doors but the iFollow services and independent club equivalents have provided a vital trickle of revenue.
Fourteen illegal streams of Sheffield Wednesday’s win at Birmingham last month were found
More than a million streams have been accessed by season ticket holders or the match passes sold for £10 each per game.
A sharp increase in the rates of piracy, however, is causing concern, with broadcasts shared illegally via YouTube, Facebook and dedicated pirate-streaming websites or screened in some pubs.
Fourteen illegal streams of Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Birmingham last month were detected by the EFL’s online security team. Eleven of them shut down.
Most focused around two private Facebook groups, ‘SWFC Naughties’ and ‘Wednesday Till I Die’ with a combined following of more than 4,000, which have since been permanently closed down.
Eleven of those 14 illegal streams were shut down by the English Football League
Clubs in the EFL estimate more than £430,000 has been lost to illegal streaming this season
EFL clubs met to discuss the matter this week and launched a campaign, appealing to the better nature of their supporters, urging them to avoid and report illegal streams so they can close them down.
Also with warnings that action can be taken by clubs against fans who abuse the iFollow agreement.
‘This is a real problem,’ said the EFL’s chief commercial officer Ben Wright. ‘It’s costing our clubs money at a time when they don’t need to be losing revenue. Put simply it’s stealing.’