More than half of young people have admitted to watching illegal live sports streams, with a third claiming that they do so regularly, according to a new survey.
Research conducted by the Sport Industry Group (SIG) found that out of the 1,ooo young people aged between 18 – 24 surveyed, 54 per cent stated that they had watched an illegal stream of live sports while a third said that they regularly watched them. It was also found that millennials are far less likely to have subscriptions to pay TV, with only 12 – 24 per cent of the young people surveyed saying that they subscribed to services such as Sky or BT Sport.
Though the prevalence of illegal live streams has been a thorn in the side of sports broadcasts for a while now, these figures will be troubling news for companies as they watch their profits decline as a result of online piracy. Nick Keller, the chairman of SIG discussed the ramifications illegal streaming will have on sports (via The Guardian): “Unless we are careful we will have a generation of young people who consider pirated sports content to be the norm”, he said. “That’s a significant challenge not just for rights holders but the whole sector – from sponsors and athletes to ticketholders.”
He continued: “It’s in everyone’s interests, not least the fans who enjoy a quality product, to make sure that the value of sport is maintained by delivering a quality product through the best means to appeal to the audience.”
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As piracy becomes more prevalent, UK lawmakers have been looking to increase the punishments dealt to those guilty of distributing pirated content. However, the abundance of streaming sites and the myriad of video-sharing platforms that are used to upload such content makes it difficult to crack down on them, with the number of viewers watching illegal live streams only set to increase as a result.
Other details revealed by the survey include a decrease in the number of young people watching sports altogether, with 20 per cent of millennials saying that they do not follow sport compared to 9 per cent of over-35s. The popular sports between these age ranges also differs, with boxing, mixed martial arts and ice hockey all becoming increasingly popular with the younger demographic, while rugby, horse racing and athletics are on the decline.
