1,000 pubs join cheap Sky claims TV supplier
by John Harrington
One thousand pubs could be receiving illegal screenings of Premiership football from just one equipment supplier for as little as £19 a week.
As the trade braces itself for the imminent news of Sky's price structure for the new football season, evidence emerged this week of the dramatic scale of illegal screenings at pubs.
A Hampshire licensee contacted the Morning Advertiser to say he was offered Premiership matches beamed into the UK, via the Middle East, from an electrical equipment supplier based in north-east England.
The company rep assured him that it was 'perfectly legal because Sky did not have the rights to screen the games in the Arab world, the licensee said.
The rep said it would cost £19 a week for 36 months. After that a year's subscription would be £750 just one-quarter of what the host currently pays for Sky.
The boss of the firm which the MA has chosen not to publicise insisted they are not breaking copyright laws and added that around 1,000 British pubs use his company's service.
But the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) director of operations Jim Andrew said equipment suppliers needed the permission of the Premier League if they wanted to broadcast into the UK. Hosts risk a £5,000 fine if they show these games.
He added that he had heard of the firm in question and had tried unsuccessfully to approach the supplier to advise it to stop.
Sky said: 'Sky Sports is the only channel that has the right to transmit live FA Barclays Premiership football matches in the UK.
The equipment supplier asks licensees to sign a disclaimer to say they won't show football during the 'closed period 2.45pm to 5.15pm which is also illegal. But Andrew said he is 'not convinced this would have any affect in law.
Meanwhile, a company has taken the decision to stop transmitting Premiership football into British pubs via Ireland.
A Lincolnshire licensee wrote to the MA to say he was offered the service from the Cheshire-based company for a knockdown price. But a company spokesman said they had stopped offering the service. He declined to comment further.
Letters, p17
