CEO of beIN: 'Formula 1 doesn't do anything about Grands Prix piracy'
General
- GPblog.com
One of the most important ways to make money in Formula 1 are the lucrative contracts with television channels from all over the world. beIN Sports is a company that deals intensively with this, the deal between them and Formula 1 over a period of time from 2013 to 2018 was worth no less than 200 million dollars net. However, the company is bothered by the piracy and is surprised that Formula 1 does nothing at all about it.
Piracy
beIN - which manages a global network of sports channels - operates from the Middle East and the rest of the world. Since 2017, they have been greatly affected by beoutQ, which steals their content and broadcasts it for free from Saudi Arabia. Eventually, political events even led to the withdrawal of beIN's broadcasting rights in Saudi Arabia, where beoutQ can continue.
The CEO of beIN, Yousef Al-Obaidly, says at GrandPrix247: "Every Formula 1 grand prix of the 2019 season was available illegally through Saudi Arabia’s beoutQ IPTV function across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and the world-destroying the value of the rights. The fact F1 seemingly overlooks this is remarkable from a long-term business perspective."
Especially because it is important for Formula 1 to have and maintain good lucrative contracts with television networks. The value of course evaporates if all content is stolen, but Formula 1 remains aloof. GrandPrix247 has asked for a response from Liberty Media, but they didn't respond.