The licensee of a Sunderland bar has been hit with huge fines for illegally broadcasting Sky Sports football matches.
The licensee of Cleo’s Bar in Sunderland, north-east England, Kenneth Craigs, has been fined almost 10,000 pounds (12,000 euros). He was charged with illegally broadcasting Sky Sports football matches without a proper commercial subscription. He continued the transmission despite a signed cease and desist declaration and warning.
A court found Kenneth Craigs guilty in absentia on two counts of broadcasting illegal Sky Sports football matches in his bar on two occasions on October 15, 2024. This was said to have been done with the intention of avoiding paying the applicable commercial subscription fee. Sky Sports is also legally available in the UK only to licensed venues through a commercial television agreement with Sky Business.
FACT filed charges
Specifically, Craigs broadcast football games on Sky Sports on April 7th and May 5th, 2024. For the Premiership games on April 7th, Sky Sports broadcast Manchester against Liverpool, Sheffield United against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur against Nottingham Forest. On May 5, Brighton faced Aston Villa, Chelsea faced West Ham and Liverpool faced Tottenham Hotspur.
Whistleblower rats out bar owner
As the Sunderland Echo reportedundercover investigators visited the bar on Sunday, April 7th and Sunday, May 5th. There they saw live images of the games on up to five televisions. Christopher Jenkins, representing the prosecution on behalf of FACT, told the court that Craig’s illegal behavior came to light through a tip-off.
In addition, it emerged from the court hearing that “Craigs had previously been asked to switch off the services both in writing and in a face-to-face meeting with an enforcer – on behalf of Sky UK Ltd. He even signed a cease and desist letter, but then turned around and continued showing games.”.
Jenkins told the court that Sky’s broadcast tariff for commercial premises was based on the local tax value of the property. He noted that this equated to £2,285 a month for Cleo’s Bar. Money that he said other companies would also pay to legally broadcast their shows.
According to Jenkins’ calculations, Kenneth would have Craig’s “Saved over 4,000 pounds (4,800.00 euros) in royalties. That is the amount of the fee that his competitors would have had to pay.” He also said that it should be done according to the facts “It is not cheaper to break the law than to obey it.”
Illegal Sky Sports football game broadcasts resulted in high penalties
The court ultimately found that ““The matter was aggravated by his ignoring repeated requests to stop the broadcast.”. Ultimately, it fined Kenneth Craigs £5,000 (€6,000.00) for illegally broadcasting Sky Sports football games. Furthermore, he has to “Pay £2,400 (€2,880.00) in costs and compensation of £2,000 (€2,400.00) within 28 days”. In total, both the payment of the fine and the other subsequent costs amounted to a whopping £9,400 (11,280.00 euros).
Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT, is satisfied with the verdict. He emphasized:
“This ruling underlines FACT’s commitment to protecting the interests of our broadcast partners. By taking action against those who engage in deceptive practices and broadcast Sky content unlawfully, FACT aims to provide a strong deterrent to other license holders considering similar actions.”
Sara Stewart, head of compliance (commercial anti-piracy) at Sky Business, added:
“Now more than ever, it is important to protect our customers’ investments. Companies that broadcast Sky Sports illegally can leave our legitimate Sky subscribers feeling like they are being taken advantage of. We visit thousands of venues each season to monitor the games they broadcast, helping to protect hard-working Sky customers who are unfairly losing out on revenue as a result of this illegal activity.”
As FACT warned, all business owners who show Sky broadcasts illegally, without a commercial usage agreement, will face similar action. They can also be prosecuted in civil courts.
