Wednesday, May 7, shortly before 8 p.m. The players of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Arsenal emerge from the locker rooms of the Parc des Princes and are preparing to compete in a return semi-final of the Champions League. The future final being scheduled on the free M6 channel, this Franco-English match is in fact the most anticipated TV sporting event of the year in France.
A few years ago, in such an occasion, a good part of the country would have released its cupboard jerseys, arranged a few bowls of chips on the coffee table and would have settled in front of Canal+. Unfortunately for the broadcaster of the Champions League in France and for the other holders of the rights of the main sports competitions, in particular football, these evenings are no longer entirely taking place. As each paid meeting approaches, a ballet is now starting online: hundreds of thousands of Internet users are busy to try to look at it for free, that is to say illegally. And their techniques are multiple …
Take Lucie, a 25 -year -old engineer passionate about sport, who only gave her first name, like other interviewed. For her, hunting begins on a social network: X (ex-Twitter). In two clicks, she identifies a link that leads her to a Telegram messaging chain. Within it, it will undoubtedly have to be zigzag between advertisements for illegal online casinos, pornographic images or “fairs” devoted to sports betting, but, at the end of the path, the Grail: a broadcast, free, of the match.
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