Football live stream: Free Premier League links spreading online could 'wreak havoc'

The new season of the Premier League is finally here, with last season’s winners Manchester City thrashing West Ham in Saturday's early game.

Matches will be broadcast in the UK across various Sky channels, however pirated streams that let football fans watch for free are spreading online. This has prompted cyber security experts to warn of the dangers involved in illegal streaming.

Links to streams are often easy to find through Reddit, Twitter and other social media platforms, as well as through simple online searches. While some may pose no real threat beyond the annoyance of pop-up ads, many carry significant risks.

“When it comes to streaming content illegally, the potential for malware is staggering,” Jake Moore, a security specialist at antivirus firm ESET, told The Independent.

“Cyber criminals can take advantage of these streaming sites to mine personal data such as credit card details, addresses, and personal shopping habits – all ready to be sold on the black market. What is most worrying is that few people are aware of the risks of illegal streaming, which makes it even more dangerous.”

The obvious way to avoid such risks is to watch Premier League fixtures through the official broadcasters, though some people may choose to break the law due to not being able to afford it, or not living in a location where the games are broadcast.

Anyone who does choose to watch pirated streams should “make sure they are sufficiently protected”, according to Mr Moore, who warned that cyber criminals seek to exploit all popular sporting events that draw a big online audience.

“Hackers can hide viruses in downloaded files and, if people do not check the extension of those files, the malware could wreak havoc on their machine,” he said.

“If viewers aren’t careful, they could quickly open themselves up to hackers who track their keystrokes or extort sensitive data.”

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Some broadcasters have sought to capitalise on the popularity of certain events and limit the profits reaped by pirates. Earlier this year, BT Sports opted to broadcast the finals of the Europa League and Champions League for free, which was described at the time as a “major blow” for online pirates.

As one of the most popular sports leagues in the world, broadcast rights for the Premier League sell for billions and so hosting games for free seems unlikely. The competition has led to multiple broadcasters winning bids to host the matches, meaning fans sometimes need multiple subscriptions in order to watch all the games they want to see throughout the season.

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Among those hosting the games for the 2019/20 season is Amazon, with the US tech giant streaming 20 matches through its Amazon Prime platform.

This could potentially lead to even more people seeking out illegal streams, as they are unwilling to pay subscriptions to numerous broadcasters throughout the season.

A recent survey by online piracy authority Muso found that 80 per cent of people believed they were already paying too much for streaming services, with 50 per cent of people saying they were likely to search for content across unlicensed platforms.

“So much content is siloed off and exclusibve across so many different paid-for platforms, that it’s difficult for consumers to subscribe to everything they want,” Andy Chatterley, CEO of Muso, told The Independent. “This research showed that people will inevitably seek it elsewhere via unlicensed platforms.”