Nearly half of football fans watch illegal streams of matches -- a third do so regularly
A survey by the BBC reveals that over a third of Premier League football (or soccer, if you insist) fans are getting their gaming fix using unofficial (that is, illegal) online streams.
Kodi boxes and similar dedicated devices are used by more than a quarter of fans for this very purpose. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is younger adults who are more likely to make use of illegal streams.
One of the main reasons given for watching such streams is that the sports TV packages required to watch matches (Sky and BT Sport have exclusive rights for the live screening of Premier League matches) are not good value. The cost of packages that include sports channels is high as broadcasters need to claw back the £5.136 billion ($6.67 billion) that they splashed out to buy the rights.
The survey, carried out for BBC 5 Live, reveals that while nearly half of fans admit to using unofficial streaming channels, more than a third indulge at least once a month, and a fifth does so at least once a week. One third of fans admit to knowing this form of streaming is illegal, but just under a third pleads ignorance and says they are unsure of the legality.
Take a look at the full results of the survey over on the BBC website.
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