IP in sports comes in different forms, so securing the economic value of sports is of utmost importance to sustain this ecosystem. Sports organizations rely on the revenue from the sale of sports broadcasting and media rights as a large portion of their funding, which is invested in programs to support athlete development and grassroot projects across the world.
“It’s a reminder that behind every thrilling goal, buzzer-beater, or championship celebration is creativity worth protecting, and copyright helps ensure those unforgettable moments can be produced, shared, and enjoyed by audiences around the globe,” said Keith Kupferschmid, CEO of the Copyright Alliance.
Impact on the sports ecosystem
“Sports organizations sell their rights around the world to different broadcasting companies to show that competition in specific countries and at the end, they pay a significant price,” said Guillermo Rodríguez, Chief Operating Officer of Content Protection for the Spanish football organization LaLiga. “This is hugely important for incomes, such as the players’ salaries. The broadcasters then recuperate their expenses through subscription fees paid by the users.
“So, illegal streaming breaks absolutely this model: criminal actors, criminal organizations use sophisticated tools in order to locate and steal the broadcast images, and then redirect them into their own ecosystem,” he continued.
Another example is the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which owns the global broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games including broadcasts on television, radio and digital platforms. The IOC estimates that they spend around $4.2 million per day to support athletes and sports organizations all over the world via Olympic Solidarity funding; amounting to more than $1.5 billion per year.
According to a 2021 study by Synamedia, approximately US$28 billion is lost globally to piracy each year. Piracy of sporting events cheats not only those that hold broadcasting rights, but also, athletes and fans, two of the most important groups in the sports ecosystem.
In France, about 3.5 million – about 1/3 of viewers – access competitions of L1 and L2 football club programming illegally. It gets worse: 59%, or 2 million, watch championship matches that are distributed legally via Ligue1+ and beIN Sports.
Risks to sports fans
Sports fans are also put at serious risk when accessing websites and apps to watch pirated content. Research by AAPA (Audiovisual Anti-piracy Association) found that it takes only 71 seconds for malware to be installed on a device when accessing a site with pirated content and there is a 57% chance that an app for watching pirated content is installed with embedded malware. Another risk involved in watching sports from illegal websites and apps is becoming a victim of identity theft or ransomware.
According to a survey carried out by Crimestoppers UK, there are around 3.2 million people who access illegal streaming who are infected by computer viruses per year, with 2.7 million people that have experienced a virus, fraud, or personal data theft after accessing illegally streamed content, and over 1.5 million people who have had their money stolen after watching illegal streams.
Research released by Creative Content Australia in 2024 revealed that half of people who access illegally streamed content have experienced cybersecurity issues.
To crack down on illegal sports streaming, UEFA (the Union of European Football Association) for instance, has been working alongside Meta to implement anti-piracy operations to take down illegal streams on social media.
Why it matters
In 2000, The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member states designated April 26 – the day on which the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970 – as World Intellectual Property Day with the aim of increasing the general understanding of intellectual property (IP).
World IP Day offers an opportunity to join with others around the world to consider how a balanced IP system helps the global arts scene to flourish and enables the technological innovation that drives human progress. The campaign highlights the role IP rights, such as patents, trademarks, industrial designs and copyright, play in encouraging and rewarding innovation and creativity while ensuring that researchers, inventors, businesses, designers, artists, and society benefit from it.
Further reading
World Intellectual Property Day: April 26, 2026. Landing page. Accessed April 22, 2026. World Intellectual Property Organization
