FIFPRO Europe joins the Live Content Coalition to fight piracy in the sports and cultural sectors

• The cost of industrial-scale piracy of live sport lands on the workforce: on minimum salaries, on player protection and on careers after football
• European player unions call on EU regulators for enforceable and real-time measures to protect the workforce behind live content
• Piracy is not a victimless crime: it takes money out of the jobs, the talent and the communities that make European sport and culture world-leading

FIFPRO Europe has joined the Live Content Coalition. The coalition protects creators of live content against illegal streaming and broadcast piracy. It calls on EU regulators to adopt pragmatic, enforceable and real-time measures that reflect how live content is produced and consumed.

FIFPRO Europe joins as the voice of the players and workers who create the product of professional football. It stands alongside the members of the Sports Rights Owners Coalition, the European Leagues, UEFA and more than 50 other members across all major sports. In solidarity with the wider live content sector, FIFPRO Europe has joined the Live Content Coalition alongside UNI Europa Media, Entertainment and Arts (UNI MEI), the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA), the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT), Arenas Europe and Live Performance Europe, the European employers' federation of live performance organisations. 

What makes the Live Content Coalition unique is the bond it shows between workers and employers across Europe's entertainment sectors. Together we create world-class live sport and culture, and piracy is a threat to the whole live sector. Europe needs to answer it. Illegal streaming and broadcast piracy have reached systematic, industrial levels of organisation and exploitation. FIFPRO Europe stresses that this demands regulation that protects the backbone of Europe's sports and entertainment industry and its global competitive footprint.

The damage is not confined to the biggest leagues or competitions. Across many small and medium-sized markets, piracy now threatens the livelihood of the whole professional ecosystem. Lost revenue undermines global brands made in Europe. It also erodes the funding needed for player safeguards, minimum salaries, dual career development and player career funds.

"Players create the live moments that millions of fans watch every week. When that product is stolen at industrial scale, the cost lands on the workforce: on minimum salaries, on player protection and on careers after football. In many smaller markets, piracy is already threatening whether a professional career is viable at all. We need EU rules that are fast, enforceable and built for live content",
said Spyros Neofytides, FIFPRO Europe Board Member and Executive President of the Cypriot Players Union. 

"The value of live content lies almost entirely within the live window, so protection that arrives days, hours or even minutes later is no protection at all. We welcome FIFPRO Europe to the coalition. With the players at the table, it is clearer than ever that piracy is not a victimless crime: it takes money out of the jobs, the talent and the communities that contribute to the world-leading European sport and culture we all enjoy," added Mark Lichtenhein, Co-Chair of the Live Content Coalition.

The coalition urges the European Commission, Parliament and Council to deliver concrete safeguards. These include immediate takedown of illegal live streams to ensure an effective enforcement across the Single Market.