Jonathan Licht, Sky Sports' chief sports officer for the UK and Ireland, has urged Big Tech to do more to address ongoing piracy issues that are damaging the value of live sports rights, as the pay-TV broadcaster enters the new rights cycle for English soccer’s top-tier Premier League.
Speaking at a Sky Sports Premier League launch event yesterday, Licht said the 3pm broadcast lockout for the UK had been a “point for piracy gains” in the market and risked devaluing the league’s rights as it had done for France’s Ligue 1.
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He said: “I think it’s been fair to say that the [broadcast lockout of] 3pm games has been a point for piracy gains coming into this market from various places.
“Piracy is a very serious issue and a growing issue that has become significant. There’s a real concern that, despite the illegality and the links to organized crime, it’s being normalized in a way, and I think that is dangerous for the industry.
“It’s dangerous for rightsholders – we’ve seen the problems in France and the value there, and a lot of that’s been put down to broadcasters or new entrants saying they can’t get the right side of that [piracy]. That has been very value destructive.”
The comments follow the public collapse of France's top-tier Ligue 1 rights deal between international sports broadcaster DAZN and the league's governing body, the LFP, which was partially due to piracy in the country.
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By GlobalDataDAZN, which covered eight fixtures per gameweek through a €325 million (£280 million) deal, accused the LFP of inaction over piracy, claiming that it had devalued its rights and led to the broadcaster withholding rights fees on several occasions.
An LFP-backed report late last year seemed to back up DAZN’s concerns, as it was found that 37% of those who had watched Ligue 1 action during the first few months of 2024-25 had done so illegally.
The rights agreement between DAZN and LFP was eventually scrapped, despite several rounds of mediation, with LFP recently launching a direct-to-consumer (DTC) broadcast channel – named Ligue 1 Plus – ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Ligue 1 Plus is being distributed to telecom and TV heavyweights Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange, and SFR, as well as the DAZN OTT streaming service.
Elaborating on the effect of piracy in the UK market and specifically its Premier League rights, Licht said tech companies and other stakeholders in the industry would need to "get on the rights side" of the issue to avoid situations like the one in France.
He said: “Sky Sports and all the people in this industry need to do what we can to tackle piracy – whether that’s lobbying Big Tech and the conversations we are having there, or engaging the government.
“I think it’s fair to say that we are starting to see a level of engagement from Big Tech, and we think there should be more.
"They should understand the responsibilities if they want to be part of the future of rights and sports relationships. So, they really need to step up into that space.”
Litch’s comments come as Sky Sports prepares to enter the first year of a new Premier League rights cycle.
In 2023, it was announced that the Premier League would continue to be shown domestically by pay-TV rivals Sky and TNT Sports after the duo secured four-year rights deals, running from 2025-26 to 2028-29, worth £6.4 billion ($8.45 billion) at the time.
The EPL made several changes to what was on offer to broadcasters, including the cycle increasing from the traditional three seasons to four, and an increase in the number of live matches per season available, from 200 to 270.
Sky has secured the maximum four of the five packages on offer and will air a minimum of 215 live matches per campaign, including Saturday 5.30pm kick-offs, Sunday 2pm and 4.30pm games, evening fixtures on Mondays and Fridays, and three midweek rounds, as well as all 10 fixtures from the final day of the season.
TNT, meanwhile, will broadcast a minimum of 52 matches per season, including all Saturday 12.30pm kick-offs and two midweek match rounds. Public broadcaster the BBC will continue to air its Match of the Day show after snapping up a weekly highlights package, meanwhile.
At the time, Conrad Wiacek, head of analysis and consulting at Sportcal (GlobalData Sport), said of the deal: "On the surface, the deal is a success and an increase for the league on its previous deal, guaranteeing $8.45 billion in revenue over the next four years.
“However, in real terms, the deal is a loss for the Premier League. More games are available in the packages, and the term is over four years as opposed to the three-year cycles it has previously operated in, meaning simply a lower cost per game, which is great for consumers but less so for the Premier League."
Sky’s coverage starts later this week (August 15) with Liverpool versus Brighton and includes innovations, including Multiview, which will allow subscribers to watch up to four live matches concurrently, and the new Extra Time post-gameday show on Sundays hosted by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.
Multiview echoes the NFL's "Red Zone" coverage, which bounces to where the action is among the games, and is part of Sky's expanded offering aimed at adapting to the rapidly changing media environment.
As part of its offering, the broadcaster announced it will launch a new fan-driven initiative, Fanalysis, that will see fans chosen from each club to provide player ratings, manager verdicts, and perspectives across the Sky Sports app.
Asked if the broadcaster’s new fan engagement initiatives meant a pivot towards capturing new and younger subscribers over retaining current subscribers, Licht said both were equally important to the company as it looks towards the future.
He said: “A big part of going from 128 to 215 (Premier League games per season) is that we know we are creating more value for existing customers, but we also know we’re giving an opportunity for customers to reappraise Sky and Sky Sports and the value that it can bring.
“I think particularly, we see growth coming from the Now TV platform and the relationship you can have with sports fans.
“Growth is a really big part of our focus, particularly at this time of the year when we’re talking about new investments that we made. But we don’t take any of our customers for granted, and we’re making sure that we’re giving them more value.
“We know that there’s an opportunity for us to grow as well, because we’re giving people that reason to think about Sky Sports again.”
Gary Hughes, Sky Sports’ director of football, added: “With social and digital, we’re talking to potential customers, non-customers, and on Sky Sports News, there’s a lower price point to access.
“So, part of our role is showcasing the brilliant talent, brilliant action, and the opportunity to watch. There have been changes in Sky Sports and digital throughout the summer, and the reason why we’ve set ourselves up is to do just that.”
