Taking aim at paid VPNs offers an easy target, but will it impact the root causes of illegal streaming?
La Liga has welcomed recent court actions targeting NordVPN and ProtonVPN as a step forward in the fight against piracy, although the situation appears to be more nuanced than it first seems.
On 17 February, the league announced it had received notice of multiple decisions from Commercial Court No. 1 of Córdoba, which approved precautionary measures against the two VPN providers.
The court has ordered NordVPN and ProtonVPN to block access from Spain to specific IP addresses which have been identified as illegally streaming protected content, according to a La Liga press release.
The rulings also state VPN providers fall under the European Digital Services Regulation as technological intermediaries, meaning they are required to help prevent illegal activity carried out through their infrastructure.
The court argued VPN services are “highly effective and accessible to generate the possibility of access to content not accessible in certain geographic points,” effectively masking a user’s real location and allowing access to websites which stream protected content illegally.
It also highlighted the companies acknowledge and advertise “that their system is excellent at evading restrictions.”
La Liga called the rulings “unheard of in Spain” and pioneering worldwide, though NordVPN told Insider Sport it’s still waiting to hear anything at all, having not yet received the judicial documents.
“At this stage, we have not received the judicial documents mentioned in the press, so it will be premature to comment without having reviewed them,” said Laura Tyrylytė, Privacy Advocate at NordVPN.
“We were not part of any Spanish judicial proceedings to our knowledge, and therefore had no opportunity to defend ourselves.”
Will La Liga see results?
Even if the measures are enforced, there are questions about how effective they will be, with Tyrylytė arguing actions like this risk targeting the wrong part of the ecosystem.
“The procedures of blocking domains are ultimately ineffective in combating piracy. While it may address superficial cases, it fails to tackle the root causes of piracy. Pirates can easily circumvent these blocks by using subdomains: blocking does not eliminate the content itself or reduce the incentives for piracy,” she said.
NordVPN also stressed real control comes from removing the source of the illegal content, targeting hosting providers, cutting off funding for operations and increasing access to affordable, legitimate content.
“Additionally, these blocking measures primarily target reputable, paid VPN providers, leaving free VPN services largely untouched,” Tyrylytė said.
“Free VPNs are often harder to regulate and, since users who seek to avoid paying for content are unlikely to pay for a VPN either, these services remain a loophole for pirates to bypass restrictions. This gap allows piracy to continue without significant barriers.”
A pan European problem
In the UK, illegal sports streaming has become increasingly normalised and recent industry research has suggested more than half of sports fans believe accessing illegal streams is socially acceptable.
Rising subscription costs and the growing number of platforms required to watch football have been widely cited as reasons for this perspective. Broadcast rights in English football are now spread across multiple services. Sky Sports and TNT Sports hold domestic Premier League rights.
Italy has taken a more technology focused route against piracy, with Serie A partnering with Sportian in August 2025 to deploy its Piracy Guard system. The league has reported thousands of piracy attacks blocked each matchweek using AI tools combined with human monitoring. Additionally, agreements with platforms such as Meta, TikTok and YouTube have strengthened takedowns.
La Liga has led the charge in many instances, investing heavily to launch its own dedicated antipiracy department covering technical tools, reporting and legal support. Speaking at SPORTEL Monaco in October 2025, La Liga President Javier Tebas compared its tech to looking like the NASA headquarters.
