The Premier League is standing squarely behind football’s 3pm Saturday blackout following claims that it is helping to fuel piracy.

Telegraph Sport revealed on Wednesday how modified Fire Sticks – which have been adapted to host apps that illegally show overseas or paywalled content – have become a major UK focus in sport’s war against piracy.

At a trial in 2023 of five men who were sentenced to more than 30 years in prison, prosecutor David Groome told the court that the British-based gang exchanged messages saying the blackout was “good for business” and accounted for 80 per cent of their £10-a-month subscribers.

Many football fans reacted to Telegraph Sport’s reporting by highlighting both the blackout, which means matches played at 3pm on a Saturday can be watched by fans abroad but not in England, as well as the price and fragmentation of different subscription packages.

Piracy, though, is also a serious problem in countries that do not have a 3pm blackout. Football industry research suggests that there will always be some fans searching for illegal ways to watch matches for free and that sectors like film and television are pirated more.

The Premier League and English Football League have agreed new television deals from 2025-26 until 2028-9 that will mean a major increase in live matches while retaining the blackout.

There will be pressure to follow other major football leagues thereafter in having no blackout, but Premier League chief executive Richard Masters is adamant that there is no prospect of change in the imminent future. “At the moment, we’re really committed to the next four years, as are the EFL and indeed, The FA,” said Masters. “I don’t see that situation changing. Just generally, article 48 [the 3pm blackout rule] isn’t up for grabs, isn’t under discussion… for until 2029 onwards and we won’t start thinking about that for a few years.”

Tom Greatrex, the chair of the Football Supporters’ Association, said that there was still support among fans for the blackout because of the important protection it provides to clubs’ attendances lower down the pyramid.

Greatrex, however, did question the selling of matches in a single competition like the Premier League across multiple subscription platforms. “More widely we do think that football’s TV costs are high, particularly for Premier League fans who, thanks to the current media deal, must subscribe to Amazon, Sky and TNT if they wanted to follow the full season,” he said.

“No other sector seems to break things up like this – imagine watching the latest season of Squid Game with the first few episodes on Netflix, a couple more on Apple TV and then the final few on Amazon Prime. It just doesn’t happen.”

The Premier League’s new deal from 2025 will mean 270 of the 380 matches each season are shared across Sky Sports and TNT Sports. The league has recently also agreed to establish its own in-house media operations ahead of the 2026-27 season, prompting speculation about a potential longer-term move towards direct streaming of matches to fans.