The Secretary General of Swedish Professional Football Leagues (Svensk Elitfotboll), Johan Lindvall, together with SHL’s CEO Jenny Silfverstrand and Sara Lindbäck from the Rights Alliance, visited the Ministry of Justice to discuss the highly topical issue of illegal content theft of live broadcasting rights.
Every year, Swedes collectively spend a total of SEK 1.25 million on illegal IPTV services. Over the past three years, usage has doubled. According to Mediavision, 580,000 Swedish households purchase illegal IPTV services annually.
There is a strong link between illegal IPTV services and criminal networks. Furthermore, illegal content theft results in significant tax losses for Sweden and lost job opportunities across the country.
For sports, this has negative consequences for the entire ecosystem, ultimately affecting clubs’ youth and children’s programs, partnerships and contributions to regional development, and activities in local municipalities. Illegal content theft poses a major threat to the entire sports movement, and new legislation and tools are needed to target these illegal actors.
The meeting with the Ministry of Justice aimed to illustrate the structure of the sports ecosystem, the impact of sports on society at large, and why it is unacceptable for these rights infringements to continue at their current scale.