Named and shamed: Pubs rack up £100k costs for illegal football

Pubs caught for airing football illegally have been ordered to cough up more than £100,000 in recent months.

The pubs guilty of screening live football without a licence must pay costs to the Premier League, after a wave of civil actions and settlements in late 2015 and early 2016.

Some of the pubs were slapped with costs of more than £10,000 each. The pubs included were:

  • The Sun Inn, Burnley, Lancashire (ordered by the High Court to pay £11,000)
  • The Spider's Web, Grimsby, Lincolnshire (ordered by the High Court to pay £10,000)
  • Hope and Anchor Inn, Oldham, Greater Manchester (ordered by the High Court to pay £7,000)
  • The Crown, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear (ordered by the High Court to pay £6,500)
  • The Auctioneers Arms, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (agreed to pay £10,400)
  • The Nightjar, Hull, Humberside (agreed to pay costs of £10,000)
  • Three Horseshoes, Whetstone, north London (agreed to pay costs of £9,750)
  • The Bluestone, Immingham, Humberside (agreed to pay costs of £9,750)
  • The Quays, north London (agreed to pay costs of £9,000)
  • Crown and Cushion, Manchester (agreed to pay costs of £8,000)
  • Mountain Daisy, Sunderland (agreed to pay costs of £6,750)
  • The Plough, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (agreed to pay costs of £6,500)

Total: £104,650

The Premier League has also issued legal proceedings in a civil claim against Neosat, a business accused of supplying broadcast systems that allow football matches to be shown illegally. 

This will be the fourth alleged supplier the Premier League has taken civil legal action against in the past 12 months.

Last year, the owners of Digicams, a company which illegally sold cards enabling pubs to show football without a licence, were jailed for three and a half years.

A spokesman for the Premier League said: "The feedback we have had from publicans in recent years is that we should be focusing on suppliers. We have listened.

"The actions against suppliers and pubs in recent weeks and months make it absolutely clear that there are huge risks for pubs when they enter into contracts with suppliers other than a commercial subscription with Sky Sports and BT Sport.

"Our message to pubs is clear: don't take the risk. Call Sky and BT to find out about their latest offers for commercial premises in the UK."

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