Football fans warned of 'significant consequences' as millions of UK homes 'blocked' from illegally streaming Sky Sports

Fans have been warned of the ‘significant consequences’ they could face if they illegally stream Sky Sports and Sky Cinema.

As many as four million UK homes rely on shady streaming platforms as a way of capturing elite sports such as Premier League and Football League matches.

A “sophisticated illicit streaming operation” has recently been shut down by law enforcement, according to GB News.

Users of such methods who use illegal means to watch the latest sports action, movies or series could face “significant consequences”.

Gary McNally, who resided in Birmingham, England, ran a ‘sophisticated and large-scale’ operation dubbed ‘Each Online’ from his home between November 2017 and September 2021.

The illegal streaming services provided access to Premier League fixtures as well as other pay-per-view broadcasts.

As per the Mail, the stream even saw up to 2,000 users at peak times. McNally’s setup was said to be complex and powered by an ‘office grade’ internet connection, which set him back £420 per month.

Sky first became aware of McNally in June 2020 after an investigation found he was using NOW accounts to gain illegal access to Sky content, as reported by the Metro.

The company referred the case to police, who then searched two homes in Birmingham in September 2021. During the searches, they found laptops, hard drives, and NOW TV devices.

Two other people were arrested during the crackdown by West Midlands Police.

Several Premier League matches are illegally streamed each week (Credit:Getty)

McNally, 56, took advantage of England’s 3 pm ‘blackout’ rule, which was introduced in the 1960s, prohibiting matches from being broadcast live on UK television.

No matches are allowed to be broadcast between 14:25 and 17:25 until at least 2029. Part of the reason for this is to encourage supporters to attend lower-league games.

Ari Alibhai, who was prosecuting on behalf of Sky TV Ltd, claimed those that supply illicit streams are “top of the piracy pyramid”.

Prosecutors at Birmingham Crown Court claimed that the 56-year-old earned up to £60,000 from his streaming activities, although the defence suggested the figure was closer to £40,000.

McNally was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison last month after he admitted two charges under the Fraud Act 2006.

“This is not a homebrew small operation, that's a relatively large-scale operation," said Mr Alibhai.

“There have been many cases concerned with the supply of illicit streams; there have been few dealing with content creators - the harvesters,” he added.

“Those within broadcasting consider those who harvest and create content sit at the top of piracy pyramid. It does not mean they receive the most money. Mr McNally played a relatively unusual role in capturing the content. Distributing is more common.”

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) claimed that copyright infringement such as illicit streaming costs the UK economy around £9bn per year as well putting over 80,000 jobs at risk.

FACT CEO Kieron Sharp told GB News: "The police across the UK have been unstinting in their efforts to tackle this criminality and we are grateful for their assistance. To those using illegal streaming services, the message is that you’re not just committing a crime; you are putting yourself at risk.

"These services often expose users to malware, scams, and data theft, with no recourse when things go wrong. The safest, smartest and only choice is to stick to legitimate providers for your entertainment."