For a long time, piracy was seen as a distant problem or a smaller infraction, committed by those who just wanted to watch a game of soccer without paying for it. The main damaged would be the station that held the rights of broadcasting of the largest championships, TV Globo. However, current reality shows a much more serious and complex scenario that directly compromises football sustainability as an industry, affecting clubs, broadcasters, governments and the whole economic chain that revolves around the most popular sport on the planet. In the end, who pays the price is the consumer himself.
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In Brazil, the size of the problem is alarming. The channel PremierePay-Per-View Football Platform in the country, has about 2.5 million subscribers and projected revenue from $ 750 million to 2025. Despite these significant figures, it is estimated that only 20% of fans watching games Brazilian Championship pay for the service. The other 80% resort to piracy, generating an annual loss of approximately R $ 500 million for the sector.
This revenue dropout directly harms clubs, which are increasingly dependent on transmission quotas to maintain their sports, as the Keeggo CTO, Rogério Athayde highlights.
“We are not just talking about an irregular consumption issue. Digital piracy is no longer just an irregular access problem; it compromises the entire value chain of the industry. Technology has been allied in combat, but it is important to expand the culture of digital responsibility.”
The federal government estimates that digital piracy results in a tax collection of over $ 2 billion per year. Already the Brazilian clubs stop moving almost $ 10 billion per year in all, which could be reversed in investments in infrastructure, grassroots categories, salaries of athletes and social actions.
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At the international level, the situation is no different. A recent survey published by Efe Sports Business reveals that La Liga clubs, the Spanish soccer elite, lose between 600 and 700 million euros per year due to digital piracy. According to a study by the League organization itself, 59% of Spaniards admit to resorting to piracy to watch the games at least once a month.
Given this scenario, the The League He started to invest heavily in technology to contain illegality. The entity uses Big Data and Machine Learning -based solutions to identify fraudulent behavior patterns, detecting more than 3,000 illegal transmissions per match in Spain and Portugal. The initiative also includes judicial measures, awareness campaigns and institutional partnerships to strengthen combat.
In Brazil, the National Council to Combat Piracy and Crimes Against Intellectual Property (CNCP) has been reinforcing repression actions, focusing on the supervision and blocking of illegal content. Recently, the agency forwarded to the World Intellectual Property Organization (ORPI) a list of about 8,000 pirate links under court order. The effort aims to contain the dissemination of illegal content, but also to educate the population about the risks and consequences of piracy.
O YouTubein turn, it claims to be able to overthrow up to 99% of pirate transmissions based on their detection and removal of protected content. However, other digital platforms and less structured websites still have difficulties dealing with practice, being frequent targets of clandestine broadcasts, often with professional appearance.
For Rodrigo Calabria, partner of CCLA Advogados and a specialist in digital law, the confrontation of piracy requires coordinated action. “Digital piracy in football occurs when games are illegally transmitted, breaking the rights of transmission and impairing the broadcasters, clubs and integrity of the sports market. This practice puts at risk the quality of transmissions and exposes viewers to digital dangers, such as viruses and fraud,” he says.
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According to the lawyer, the response to the problem should involve technology, legal actions and strategic partnerships. “It is necessary to constantly monitor the internet and apply content protection technologies, such as encryption and water marks. In addition, it is essential to have specialized legal advice to take quick legal actions, such as blocking pirated websites and the removal of illegal transmissions. Collaboration between those involved is essential to protect copyright and minimize damage caused by piracy in football,” he adds.
In addition to the financial impacts, there is a social and structural dimension at stake. “Piracy needs to be perceived and fought as an evil that affects the best interest of all. The more illegality, the less jobs, taxes and value being generated for the greater good of society, including revenues for clubs, entities and media conglomerates,” says Alexandre Vasconcellos, Flashscore regional manager in Brazil and specialist in sports marketing.
Football, by its popular nature, faces the paradox of being highly desired and widely pirated. To ensure its sustainability in the future, it will be necessary than technology: a change in culture will be needed, where fans, companies, governments and sports entities recognize the value of legitimate content and commit to the integrity of sports.
