Premier League viewers given £1,000 fine warning for streaming this week’s matches on Amazon Prime Video
Another weekend ram-packed with Premier League action; the Barclays is back again in just one day's time - and with it, a warning of a £1,000 fine to anyone who decides to tune in.
Following a round of fixtures that saw Liverpool go nine points clear at the top after a routine win against a rather limp-looking Manchester City, as well as Manchester United scoring four goals in an Old Trafford league debut for new boss Ruben Amorim, there is very little rest for the lads across all 20 teams, with another round of games set to kick off on Tuesday night (3 December).
Games will feature across Tuesday to Thursday, with the highlight being Arsenal vs Man Utd on the Wednesday evening. But for those who tune in to the big match, or any of the other nine fixtures, you could find yourself at risk of a £1,000 fine for following your team or casually watching.
£1,000 Premier League fine explained
The mid-week fixtures are all being shown live on Amazon Prime Video, with the same also being the case when the teams play on Boxing Day (26 December).
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If you have a Prime subscription, you can tune in at no extra cost as part of your package with Amazon - just like you could for the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson boxing match if you had a Netflix subscription at the time of the fight.
Watching content on Netflix or Prime Video doesn't require any other subs on top of what you pay each company. That is, until live events are involved.
TV Licence, Premier League, and Amazon Prime Video
To watch any live event as it is broadcast in the United Kingdom, you need to be paying for a TV Licence, whether you like it or not.
This is for live television as well as live events as they are streamed over the internet.
The BBC, which is funded by the TV Licence, told LADbible that a TV Licence is needed for live events on streaming services such as Prime Video, YouTube, and Netflix.
Issuing a statement earlier this year, the BBC said: "A TV Licence is needed to watch live content on streaming services, watch or record a TV programme on any channel and when using BBC iPlayer. Further information is available on the TV Licensing website or via the customer services team, who can help with any queries."
A £1,000 risk
If you go ahead and watch the Premier League fixtures on Prime Video that are being broadcast from 3 to 5 December, you're putting yourself at risk of a £1,000.
This is the most you can be fined for watching live content without paying for a TV Licence, which is £169.50 a year. The maximum fine is £2,000 in Guernsey.
"You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally. The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay," TV Licensing says.
"We have a database of approximately 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses. This tells us if your address has a TV Licence.
All our visiting officers have access to this database. This means they can check if you have a licence or not. If you tell us that you do not need a TV Licence ,our officers may still visit you to confirm this."
The service also uses 'detector vans' which it sends around the country to 'detect the use of TV receiving equipment at specifically targeted addresses within minutes'.
Topics: Amazon, Amazon Prime, BBC, Crime, Football, Premier League, Sport, TV, IPTV
Tom Earnshaw