Hackers vs. Sports Broadcasters: A Close Match

Wednesday, May 7, shortly before 8 p.m. The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Arsenal players emerge from the Parc des Princes locker rooms and prepare to play a Champions League semi-final second leg. With the upcoming final scheduled for free-to-air channel M6, this Franco-English match is the most anticipated paid-for television sporting event of the year in France.

Just a few years ago, on such an occasion, a good portion of the country would have taken their jerseys out of the closet, placed a few bowls of chips on the coffee table, and settled down in front of Canal+. Unfortunately for the Champions League broadcaster in France and for the other rights holders of major sporting competitions, particularly football, these evenings no longer take place quite like this. As each paid match approaches, a ballet now begins online: hundreds of thousands of Internet users are busy trying to watch it for free, in other words, illegally. And their techniques are multiple...

Take Lucie, a 25-year-old engineer and sports enthusiast, who, like other interviewees, only gave her first name. For her, the hunt begins on a social network: X (formerly Twitter). In two clicks, she identifies a link that leads her to a Telegram channel. Within it, she will undoubtedly have to zigzag between advertisements for illegal online casinos, pornographic images, or "lounges" dedicated to sports betting, but at the end of the road, the Holy Grail: a free broadcast of the match.

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