A 10-country study of some 6,000 sports fans has found while while 89% of sports fans have a pay-TV or subscription OTT service, over half (51%) still watch pirate sports services at least once a month.
The research, conducted for video software provider Synamedia by Ampere Analysis, found that of those who regularly view illegal sports content, 42% watch sports fixtures on a daily basis. The amount is 60% higher than the ‘average’ sports fan
Synamedia found that although many fans know viewing pirated subscriptions is illegal, many of them continue to do so. They would also be prepared to pay more to watch the action if a provider could make it convenient for them to do so over a number of devices – it could also suggest that the sports rights holders drive to increase their income through selling to rival broadcasters on separate platforms isn’t doing the fans any favours.
Other fans say they would be happy to pay for individual tournaments and would welcome more flexible packaging.
Simon Brydon, Senior Director, Sports Rights Anti-Piracy at Synamedia, said, “This initial research into what motivates sports fans to access illegal streams establishes a baseline for a more nuanced and targeted approach to combatting piracy. Our ambition is to help sports rights holders and operators apply a more forensic approach that drives up legitimate revenues, reduces sports’ fans reliance on illegal streams and takes the wind out of the pirates’ sails.”
