UEFA has joined the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) in its bid to fight the global piracy issue plaguing European football leagues, broadcasters and stakeholders.
On October 22, the European football governing body became the first sports rights holder to join ACE and will assist in helping to stamp out piracy of football games by leveraging ACE’s Live Tier.
This targets sports piracy operations and works alongside law enforcement and other partners to detect and end these illegal networks. ACE already works with 50 major entertainment companies to combat piracy threats across the globe.
Members of ACE Live Tier gain access to real-time intelligence, global reach, policy advocacy and partnerships with private sector and law enforcement entities. The Live Tier also features global hubs, as well as dedicated technology, to address the immediacy of gameday piracy.
“UEFA joining ACE represents a landmark moment in our global content protection strategy,” said Guy-Laurent Epstein, Executive Director of Marketing at UEFA.
“This partnership allows us to expand our enforcement capabilities, deepen our existing collaboration with industry leaders and leverage ACE’s proven capabilities to disrupt illegal services.”
The football piracy threat
Piracy is quickly becoming one of the largest threats to commercial revenue for football leagues and broadcasters alike.
ACE highlighted a study from the National Economic Research Associates (NERA) in 2019 which projected piracy is set to cost the sport $97bn. It is also a $229bn issue within the world of entertainment.
This is why UC3, the commercial arm of UEFA, have also joined in partnership with ACE to protect its agreements in place with relevant broadcast partners.
“With UEFA joining the world’s largest anti-piracy coalition, we are strengthening our fight to detect, deter, and dismantle online piracy everywhere,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman of ACE.
“UEFA’s membership bolsters ACE’s ability to defend sports content from nefarious players in real time – and amplifies the reach of our efforts to protect football fans and broadcasters across the globe.”
With UEFA aiming to generate upwards of $4bn for its next broadcast rights cycle for the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, the ACE coalition intends to protect revenues from the illegal streaming of games of said competitions.
