Next Gen News

the verdict will impact football fans, BSkyB, movie studios and TV production companies in our

How did we get here?

test Tuesday is the last - and most important step - in a long saga that began when the Premier League has taken legal action against a number of bars shown live football on a Saturday afternoon through the issue of from abroad. An owner, Karen Murphy bar red, white and blue in Portsmouth, and two importers of allegedly illegal decoder cards are attractive to Europe. Lawyers said that Murphy was entitled to show the games, after paying a subscription to a Greek radio station and to enforce the exclusivity of Sky in the UK was against European law of free trade.

verdict Tuesday What does this mean?

Essentially, the Court largely agreed with Murphy. It was determined that the imposition of national boundaries to sell the rights to a territory by territory violated EU laws on free trade. This could have huge implications not only for the rights model of the Premier League, which has fueled its growth over the last 20 years to the point where it now brings in £ 3.5 billion over three years, but also for the world and other producers of sports in Europe. Congratulations, the maker of ghosts and life on Mars, has already warned that this could affect investments in the production of British television if they are unable to sell their shows overseas in a territory by territory.

What the Premier League?

insiders believe they can mitigate the damage. Even if it means finally, they must sell fewer games on a pan more than one channel, they are sure they will be able to largely maintain the value of rights agreements that supported the explosion of the players wages in recent years. Only about 350-400 £ £ £ of turnover of 3.5 billion Premier League are from continental Europe. They are also closely examining the problems of copyright notice (see below) to determine how they could use to their advantage.

What does it mean today?

for the duration of the existing Premier League (which goes until the end of next season), individuals can acquire decoders and decoder cards that allow the beam in the football abroad at lower cost. As such, the outage from 15:00 to national broadcasters to taste traditional coincide on a Saturday afternoon will not be needed - for now at least. There are different issues of copyright that show the games in bars, but it seems that individual consumers are free to buy football abroad using foreign cards and decoders. For the next 18 months, at least, there may be something of a free for all consumers work to get their hands on the football cheaper - and more of it. Although in a different language. However, Premier League insiders believe that any statement may appeal against this interpretation, even in question.

There are obvious benefits for expatriates to be able to take your set-top box and decoder card with them when traveling in another country and see its bouquet of channels. However, the picture could be very different when the Premier League enters the market with its agreement with the television to come.

What will it mean in the future?