The advocate general of the European Court of Justice has come out in favour of pubs using foreign satellite feeds to provide coverage for football fans. In what could be a major blow to the FA Premier League and its live broadcasters Sky and ESPN, Advocate General Julianne Kokott says the use of decoder cards should not be restricted to one country within the EU, as this would "partition the internal market" – against the ethos of the European Union. “The marketing of broadcasting rights on the basis of territorial exclusivity is tantamount to profiting from the elimination of the internal market,†she said. “Consequently, the specific subject-matter of the rights in the transmission of football matches does not justify a partitioning of the internal market, and thus also does not justify the resulting restriction of the freedom to provide services.†SATURDAY WINDOW The news could have huge ramifications on UK football. Premier League matches are broadcast live in several countries but not in the UK during a Saturday-afternoon window, in order to protect attendance figures at grounds throughout the league pyramid. These foreign broadcasts are easily obtainable via satellite and several pubs openly flout the ruling. Hampshire publican Karen Murphy is currently in court fighting the ruling, and it is from this case that the latest developments have emerged. The statement is "not binding on the Court of Justice" and the ECJ judges will now retire to consider their own verdicts on the case. They are expected to give their ruling later this year, at which point the UK High Court will discuss how to incorporate the European ruling. The Premier League will release a statement later today and are expected to fight any overturning of the current ruling. However, the biggest effects could be felt further down the leagues, with attendances facing a severe threat from the presence of live top-flight football in pubs. FourFourTwo
anybody no how to get this foreign satelite feed? its poppin up in a few places near me! went to watch game last night and no commentry but plugged in iphone to pubs sound system used tunein radio app and presto had bbc merseyside commentry on game! is it cheaper than sky?
Fair play to the landlady for taking this case to the european high court. What is the price difference between paying bskyb.. and a foreign code card for pubs? Thousands id imagine.
If this is eventually upheld and enforced sky will lose a bleedin fortune. At the moment most pubs have sky /setanta/espn plus something like tring on a dish for the other games,sky turn a blind eye to this cos they're still getting paid. If this comes in all the pubs will fcuk sky etc off cos they get all the matches they show anyway on their foreign satellite