Just a few minutes of searching on social media will show you how to watch Ligue 1 matches for free, the second day of which was held this weekend. While piracy has always existed, it is taking on increasingly diverse forms, particularly via social media, IPTV and VPNs, and is increasingly worrying sports channels and professionals in the sector.
The phenomenon is massive: almost one in five French people are said to be “outlaws”. According to a study by Arcom published in the spring, 19% of French people were already watching sports via illicit means, including 17% via illicit streaming and 12% via IPTV boxes, allowing them to have pirate subscriptions to different channels (including paid ones) for a few dozen or hundreds of euros. In detail, the “pirates” who say they watch live on illegal streaming sites do so via search engines (30%) but also social networks (28%). Recently, “the increase in piracy on social networks is particularly worrying”, underlines the Professional Football League (LFP).
