Adam Williams, Finance & Governance Correspondent

Tue 27 December 2022 19:48, UK

The Premier League is planning a massive crackdown on broadcast piracy in the Asia-Pacific region in a move which could boost media income for Liverpool, sources have told Football Insider.

The wheels are already in motion for an expansion of the Singapore-based IP enforcement department.

Liverpool are one of the best-supported teams in the eastern region of Asia and visited Singapore as well as Thailand during pre-season.

A source has told Football Insider that the Premier League intends to work more closely with local authorities to bring criminal litigation against those who finance and operate within the illegal streaming industry.

Liverpool are currently part of a campaign against digital piracy in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The Reds trousered £266.1million in broadcast revenue in 2020-21 and are expected to better that figure when they release their accounts for 2021-22.

The Premier League’s media pot income will surpass £10billion in the next three years, and overseas broadcast rights exceeded the value of the domestic deal for the very first time in 2022.

But there is consensus in the boardrooms of top-flight clubs and the league itself that the competition is failing to reach its full potential because of industrial piracy.

Millions at home and abroad consume live football through illegal mediums, with some studies estimating that this activity costs Premier League clubs as much as £1m per match.

Thousands of sites are shut down every year but the sophisticated nature of the operation has made stopping illegal streaming at source arduous and cost-intensive.

The Premier League hopes that more severe sentencing and targeted legislation will act as a deterrent.

In other news, pundit backs Liverpool to win race to Sofyan Amrabat after journalist’s £40million update.