Podcast Summary: The Athletic FC – The Underground World of Illegal Streaming

Podcast: The Athletic FC Podcast
Host: Adam Leventhal (with reporting and interviews featuring multiple experts)
Date: November 9, 2025
Episode Theme:
A comprehensive investigation into the covert world of illegal football streaming: the culture fueling it, the organised crime networks driving it, consumer motivations, the struggle facing major leagues and broadcasters, and the complex technical and legal battle to stay one step ahead.

Overview

Host Adam Leventhal leads a deep-dive into illegal football streaming in the UK and globally. Drawing on exclusive polling, interviews, expert analysis, and on-the-ground reporting, the episode examines why illegal streams are so rampant, how the networks powering them operate, what risks consumers are taking, and whether the football industry can catch up—or if a reckoning is coming. The narrative weaves together stories from fans, broadcasters, piracy fighters, technologists, and football executives to capture the crisis facing football broadcasting.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why is Illegal Streaming So Widespread? (05:50–14:05)

• Cost & Fragmentation:
  • Legal access in the UK is expensive and fragmented (£40–£80/month for Sky, TNT, etc.), pushing people toward much cheaper illegal options (as low as £60–£80/year).
  • Fans frequently cite "cost," "convenience," and frustration with multiple subscriptions as primary reasons for turning to illegal streams.
• Generational Shift:
  • Younger fans see illegal streaming as normal—"No one my age is paying 80 plus to watch football." (07:40)
  • VPN use is common, both to find cheaper foreign streams and to skirt UK blackout restrictions.
• Consumer Normalization:
  • Illegal access has become so normalized that many barely consider the legal or security risks involved.

Notable Fan Quotes:

"It's just too expensive to do it the normal way, to be honest." (10:10)
"If I'm not down the pub, then I'll be using a fire stick or a website—so much cheaper than trying to pay for a Sky subscription." (09:23)

2. The Legal and Financial Impact (14:05–23:00)

• Staggering Scale:
  • The Athletic/YouGov Sport poll: 9% of UK adults admit to illegal sport streaming (4.7 million people). Another 9% wouldn't answer—suggesting much higher numbers.
  • Brand Finance: 44% of 12,000 respondents across six continents had considered unofficial streams—particularly prevalent in Saudi Arabia, China, and India.
• Official Response:
  • Premier League CEO Richard Masters and Sky’s Chief Sports Officer Jonathan Licht emphasize the seriousness and normalization of piracy. (17:40–19:00)
  • The Premier League blocked 600,000 illegal streams last season, but disruption—not eradication—is possible.
• Losses:
  • Estimates put global sports revenue loss due to piracy at over $28 billion annually.

Key Quote:

"Sports piracy poses an existential threat." – Larissa Knapp, Motion Picture Association (17:00)

3. How Easy is it to Access Illegal Streams? (23:00–31:20)

• Marketplace Mechanics:
  • Illegal IPTV devices and apps are readily sold on Facebook Marketplace and other mainstream platforms.
  • Sellers use codewords to avoid automated policing.
  • Setting up an illegal stream with a Fire Stick and a WhatsApp number is a matter of minutes—prices range from £30 for 3 months to £60–£80/year.
• Live Demonstration:
  • Adam Leventhal visits a friend’s house equipped with an illegal streaming device—shows the array of matches available.
  • The identity of some sources is hidden due to legal risks.

4. The 3pm Blackout and Its Impact (31:20–39:10)

• Football’s Unique Blackout:
  • Article 48 blocks TV broadcast of matches in the UK between 2:45 and 5:15 pm on Saturdays, a legacy aimed at supporting lower-league attendances.
  • Overseas, all games are often available—including those blacked out in the UK—creating a loophole frequently exploited by illegal foreign streams and VPNs.
  • Polling shows 57% of fans oppose the blackout; only 26% support it (37:15).
• Impact on Attendance and Fan Sentiment:
  • 42% of matchgoers say blackout encourages them to attend in person, feeding continued debate.

Notable Quotes:

"If Grimsby are playing Morecambe Saturday afternoon is cold, wet, and miserable, and Manchester United against Manchester City is on TV live at 3 o'clock—how many people are going to go?" – Jeff Stelling (Talksport, 35:55)

"77% of football fans would be interested in watching 3pm kickoffs live on TV." (36:40)

5. Is Illegal Streaming Really a Crime? And Who Gets Prosecuted? (42:30–53:30)

• Legal Perspective:
  • Viewers are breaking the law under the Fraud Act and could be targets of investigations—however, the main legal focus is on suppliers, not individual consumers.
• Landmark Cases:
  • Major operation "Flawless" led to five men jailed for a combined 30 years after making £7 million from 50,000 subscribers.
  • Prosecutions use a range of charges including conspiracy to defraud, and copyright offenses.
• Evidence Gathering:
  • Forensics labs analyze seized electronics, log files, and fire sticks.

Key Quote:

"They are committing a criminal offence. They could get swept up in some of our investigations." – Kieran Sharp, Federation Against Copyright Theft (43:19)

6. Criminal Undercurrents and Cybersecurity Risks (57:45–1:05:20)

• Beyond Football:
  • Piracy is often linked to broader criminal activities—data theft, malvertising, and even abuse material.
  • Example: A UK piracy gang ringleader was also convicted of child abuse and voyeurism, highlighting the potential dangers of trusting criminal providers.
• Data Risks for Users:
  • Users risk exposing their home networks, payment info, devices, and even personal recordings when installing illicit apps.

Key Quote:

"You're willing to put something on your phone…where you probably have your banking information…and you're okay with that to have this exist in the same ecosystem?" – Larissa Knapp (1:01:40)

7. Supply Chains & Reselling: How the Illegal Market Grows (1:08:40–1:14:40)

• Easy Entry:
  • Becoming a reseller is easy; the episode details how buying credits and flipping them to customers can net thousands in profit.
• Organized Crime:
  • A recent UK raid targeted a gang making hundreds of thousands a year, with international money flows, shell companies, and Bitcoin use commonplace.
• Global Scale:
  • Large-scale sites like StreamEast (raided in Egypt in August 2025) operate as multi-domain "brands," evading shutdown via numerous clones and complex financial webs.

Operation StreamEast:

"The annual visits [to StreamEast] are north of 1 billion visits, arguably between 1.2 to 1.6 [billion]." – Danny Baksa, ACE (1:18:35)
"When we take one down, five more will come up or more, because folks have that brand recognition, we'll still get at it." – Larissa Knapp (1:24:25)

8. Efforts & Obstacles: The Battle to Block Piracy (1:25:00–1:32:10)

• War Rooms:
  • Major events spark coordinated “war room” efforts by leagues, tech specialists, and broadcasters to hunt and block streams in real time.
• Technology Arms Race:
  • Anti-piracy tools (watermarking, AI, automated takedowns, forensic analysis) try to keep pace, but each fix is quickly circumvented.
• Consumer Attitudes:
  • Two-thirds of surveyed fans aren't concerned about the risks of data theft or cybercrime, further emboldening piracy.

9. Fire Sticks, VPNs, and Market Design Problems (1:32:15–1:43:50)

• Amazon Fire Stick:
  • Criticized as an “open computing device” that enabled rampant piracy—the response now includes enhanced app-blocking and partnerships with anti-piracy bodies.
• VPNs:
  • About a third of internet users use VPNs, often to avoid geo-restrictions ("geopiracy").
  • Free VPNs can, per terms, expose your IP/bandwidth to anyone—potentially implicating you in further criminal activity without your knowledge.
• Counterpoint:
  • VPN producers argue the real problem is market design, not the tool—parallels drawn to the music industry's adaptation with Spotify and Apple Music.

10. Is Innovation the Answer? Future Models & The “Premflix” Debate (1:43:50–end)

• Could a Premier League D2C Service Solve It?
  • Calculations reveal the need for 5M UK subscribers at £26/month or 10M at £13/month to match current TV deal revenues.
  • Arsenal fans welcome the idea, suggesting prices between £15–£50/month for full access.
• Risks for the Premier League:
  • Going it alone means greater operational cost/risk—many clubs’ finances could be vulnerable if TV income changes.
• Current Experiments:
  • EFL offers “iFollow”—club-specific streaming, with some lessons for future Premier League changes.
• Industry Parallels:
  • Music piracy’s decline only came when platforms like Spotify made legal access easier, better, and affordable.
• Global Platforms on the Horizon:
  • Dazn, Amazon, and Netflix are eyeing global sports rights; the “big stuff” (major events) will likely go global, but fragmentation and piracy remain risks for smaller leagues/matches.

Notable Quotes:

"If there was just a Netflix of Premier League…that's personally the way forward. I think everybody would pay for that, I really do." – Arsenal Fan (1:49:00)
"There’s a lot of complacency...the industry looks at this in a narrow way. Are kids willingly going to pay for this when they have an option not to?" – Roger Mitchell (1:54:00)

Memorable Moments and Quotes

• Crime and Consequence:

  "A lot of consumers will see this as a victimless crime and sticking it to the man, basically." – Adam Leventhal (50:45)

• Data Risks:

  "You are loading a piece of software that, in its essence, is illegal and owned by criminals, and you're putting it on your most trusted devices and you're connecting it to your network…" – Larissa Knapp (1:01:55)

• Piracy’s Resilience:

  "You're on one side, you've got the Pirates on the other. Who wins most matches? The Pirates. This is a very easy question. It's always the Pirates." (1:27:50)

• Fans on Future Pricing:

  "No more than £20. It’d be an absolute brilliant idea…Every streaming service is so expensive now you can see why people do stream it illegally." – Fans outside Arsenal (1:48:40)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Topic or Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------|-----------------| | Cost/fragmentation of legal streaming | 05:50–14:05 | | YouGov Sport polling, scale of piracy | 14:05–17:00 | | Broadcast and Premier League responses | 17:40–19:00 | | Marketplace mechanics (how to access) | 23:00–31:20 | | The 3pm blackout explanation | 31:20–39:10 | | Legal consequences and FACT prosecutions | 42:30–53:30 | | Forensics and evidence gathering | 53:30–57:45 | | Data/cybersecurity and crime risks | 57:45–1:05:20 | | Supply chain – reselling investigations | 1:08:40–1:14:40 | | The StreamEast takedown | 1:15:35–1:24:25 | | War rooms and tech arms race | 1:25:00–1:32:10 | | Amazon Fire Stick, VPNs, app-blocking | 1:32:15–1:43:50 | | D2C models, Premflix speculation | 1:43:50–1:56:50 | | Fan opinions on pricing | 1:48:40–1:50:30 | | Roger Mitchell on risks, future rights | 1:54:00–1:57:30 | | Saudi Arabia’s global ambitions | 1:57:30–end |

Conclusion: Where Does Football Go From Here?

• Piracy is not just a technical problem, but a symptom of fan frustration and industry rigidity.
• Globalization, evolving technology, organized crime, and fan expectations have created a new era.
• The industry's future could depend on making access easy, fair, and good value—or risk hemorrhaging revenue and control to ever-evolving piracy networks.
• A recalibration and openness to innovation, transparency, and partnership with fans will be required to survive this next broadcasting revolution.

Final Listener Call to Action:
Leventhal invites listeners to complete an anonymous survey, promising to publish the results—a chance for fans’ voices to influence the continuing debate (end).

Original reporting by Adam Leventhal for The Athletic FC. All quotes and highlights attributed as per episode transcript. For additional survey and industry resources, visit The Athletic FC website.