The biggest deterrents for viewers of pirate sports streams are
the fear of disruption to their viewing, and the risk of legal and social
consequences – including being arrested or fined, a report by global video
software provider Synamedia found.
Eighty-four per cent of sports fans who watch illegal streams
cite both these as reasons to reduce or stop viewing illegal services.
While perceived wisdom is that consumer education can curtail
piracy, the study finds that by itself it will likely fail. Although three-quarters
of the sports fans surveyed already believe piracy is morally wrong, they
continue to watch the illegal streams.
The report asserts that a more effective approach is to make
pirate streams so unreliable that consumers lose trust in the service and this
will make legitimate services more attractive.
A second report in the series, designed to
broaden understanding of global sports streaming piracy to protect the value of
sports rights, draws on results from a 10-country study of over 6,000 sports
fans and interviews with key players in the industry.
One of the themes of the report is the use of
incentives and deterrents to convert consumers of illegal content into paying
subscribers alongside a roadmap for all players in the value chain to focus on
anti-piracy interventions that are tailored to the behaviour of consumers.
Incentives include the introduction of flexible pricing models
to reach those loyal fans who do not want to commit to multiple subscriptions.
Deterrents include actions to identify, interrupt and take down
illegal services and disrupt their sources of funding – including advertisers
who are unwittingly supporting these platforms.
Technology and Internet providers sometimes unintentionally
facilitate piracy and the report recommends monitoring
to take prompt action. Examples include providers of DNS and hosting services
that appear to turn a blind eye to pirates using their services, and online
payment providers that process illegal transactions.