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Conclusion

Many PL clubs rely heavily on broadcasting money, primarily from the domestic Sky deal. Although overseas broadcasting revenue has increased dramatically since the last global tender process, there is the potential for a large shortfall in the money paid to the 20 PL clubs should the PL not have a back up plan to maximise commercial revenues in the wake of a negative ECJ decision.

Morvant's Finest

Oct 4 2011, 11:29 AM

There's a good article on the potential implications written before the judgement by a football lawyer who's studied the case closely -

http://tomkinstimes.com/2011/09/4th-october-premier-league-broadcasting-d-day/

Naebody

Oct 4 2011, 11:44 AM

Morvant's Finest

Oct 4 2011, 11:29 AM

There's a good article on the potential implications written before the judgement by a football lawyer who's studied the case closely -

http://tomkinstimes.com/2011/09/4th-october-premier-league-broadcasting-d-day/

Though it was written before the judgement, so misses the key cave-in.

Here's how it works:

1- You can't ban the sale of foreign decoders. Obviously. European free trade and all that.
2- Matches themselves are not copyrighted because they are not the "intellectual creation" of the Premier League.
3- However, everything surrounding the match retains local copyright.

That last point is extremely important. All the graphics, video sequences, branding, theme music etc need explicit permission to broadcast. And in the interpretation of what's copyrighted, it seems everything's up for grabs: we may be in the odd position where the live action's not protected but the action replays are. Whichever way, watching the copyrighted material with a foreign decoder means you're breaking the law.

As a result, it becomes relatively simple for Sky to protect its footprint. All Sky has to do is put a constant layer of copyrighted screen junk into the shared transmission feed. This may not be a perfect solution, but it's good enough to create another legal fudge ahead of the 2012-13 rights renegotiation.

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What does it mean today?

That, for the duration of the existing Premier League contract (which runs until the end of next season), private individuals will be able to purchase set-top boxes and decoder cards that allow them to beam in football from overseas more cheaply. As such, the 3pm blackout that stops domestic broadcasters from showing matches at the traditional time on a Saturday afternoon will become redundant – for the time being at least. There are different copyright issues around showing matches in pubs, but it appears individual consumers will be free to buy in football from overseas using foreign cards and decoders. For the next 18 months, at least, there could be something of a free for all as consumers work out to get their hands on cheaper football – and more of it. Albeit in a different language. However, Premier League insiders believe that the full judgment may call even this interpretation into question.

There are also obvious benefits for ex-pats in that they will be able to take their set-top box and decoder card with them when they travel to a different country and watch their existing package of channels. Yet the landscape could look very different by the time the Premier League goes to market with its next TV deal.