More than 3.5 million in England watched Champions League final on illegal streams | OneFootball

More than 3.5 million people in England are thought to have watched the Champions League final on illegal streams after it was not shown free-to-air. The Guardian reports that a Gaming Compliance International study recorded 16.2 million illegal streaming views tied to 3.7 million unique IP addresses, indicating at least that many people watched unlawfully.

Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 with Arsenal, then won 4-3 on penalties to claim their second title in the competition.

The study counted streams that lasted more than 90 seconds and said the exact audience is hard to determine. It noted that multiple people were likely to watch on the same screen, and that repeated link-switching due to technical problems inflated the total view count.

This was the first Champions League final since 1992 not broadcast free-to-air in England. Subscribers to TNT Sports and HBO Max could watch the match, and the broadcaster captured 25.6% of the national audience.

The decision sparked debate. Prime Minister Keir Starmer argued that hardworking people should not have to worry about paying a subscription to watch a match of this scale, but TNT Sports rejected his request. Viewing figures rose from about 4.5 million for last year’s PSG v Inter Milan final, won 5-0, to a little over 7 million this time, a jump linked to the presence of an English club.

Source: L'Équipe