Police launch new crackdown on 'dodgy Fire Sticks' - 11 areas targeted for house raids | OneFootball

These 11 areas in the UK are being targeted by Police over illegal Fire Sticks

11 locations are being targeted by Police as part of an attempted crackdown on 'dodgy Fire Sticks', with a renewed attempt ahead of the start of the 2026-27 EFL season.

The EFL Cup may have already kick-started the campaign this past weekend, but football fans are awaiting the 'proper' stuff starting - that is the Championship, League One and League Two.

And with the Premier League following a week later, football fans around the UK and Ireland are wanting to grab their football fix in what is set to be an exciting couple of weeks.

11 areas targeted as part of 'dodgy Fire Sticks' crackdown

It appears though that more football watchers than ever are looking to do so via their 'dodgy Fire Sticks', which is generally a jailbroken Amazon Fire TV Stick that has an app on where you can watch a whole host of channels for a relatively cheap price compared to contracts like Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

And whilst millions of people are going through this method to try and avoid the comparatively expensive individual sports subscriptions, the Police are beginning to crack down on the usage of these Fire Sticks.

As per the Daily Mail, 11 locations have recently been targeted over the supply and usage of 'dodgy Fire Sticks' - with seven of those places being located in Ireland.

England and Wales though also has locations that have been targeted, with Wrexham in North Wales being the subject of house raids over the summer, as well as the Merseyside area, with the Wirral locations of Prenton and Birkenhead also coming under fire.

Suppliers have been jailed in the recent past for 'dodgy Fire Sticks' supply

As per a report from the Liverpool Echo in January 2026, it was estimated that five million people within the UK had 'utilised unlawful sports streaming services', with the authorities working hard to try and eliminate the issue.

To do that, Police and FACT - the UK's leading anti-piracy body - have managed to get their hands on some individuals who have been supplying the jailbroken Fire Sticks.

In November 2024, Liverpool resident Jonathan Edge was sentenced to three years and four months for his selling of the 'dodgy Fire Sticks', which he continued to do and advertise on social media despite being warned to stop.

He was followed by Halifax-based Sunny Kanda, who was handed a two-year jail term and was reported to have 'cheated' legitimate providers out of £108,000 thanks to his sales.

Pembrokeshire postman Michael Barrow was the latest to be jailed earlier this summer, where he earned more than £200,000 by selling the jailbroken Fire Sticks to customers - he was sent to prison for 38 months.

FACT speak out over 'dodgy Fire Sticks' arrest - will it change anything?

As reported by The Mail, the targeting of 11 locations led to the arrest of four men in Merseyside after a two-day police operation, who were all detained on 'suspicion of supplying unauthorised access to TV, films and live sporting events'.

And FACT are determined to crack down even further on the criminal activity that is going on and making big firms lose money, with DC Andrew Gibson of the Cyber Dependent Crime Unit adding that those selling the hardware 'should not assume that operating online will protect them from detection' from investigators - as proven by arrests and sentences handed down recently.

For now though, football will continue to be watched by the millions that have gained access to 'dodgy Fire Sticks', and with the EFL and Premier League seasons starting in the coming days and weeks, there may be more people looking to gain access to them.