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UEFA has become the first sports governing body to join the world’s largest anti-piracy coalition, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE).

The United States-based group is headed by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which has been engaged in a decades-long fight against piracy, including the growing threat of illegal streaming of sports events.

UEFA, European football’s governing body, joins a cast of over 50 media companies — including Amazon, Apple TV, Netflix and Paramount Global — in a bid to protect itself, and its broadcast partners, from revenue loss due to digital piracy.

“UEFA joining ACE represents a landmark moment in our global content protection strategy,” said Guy-Laurent Epstein, executive director of marketing at UEFA. “This partnership allows us to expand our enforcement capabilities, deepen our existing collaboration with industry leaders and leverage ACE’s proven capabilities to disrupt illegal services.”

In a joint statement from the two bodies — released on Tuesday before the start of this week’s round of matches in Champions League, Europa League and Conference League — UEFA highlight that the commitment is “essential” as “media rights revenues across UEFA competitions underpin the sustainability of football at both professional and grassroots levels”. It explains that ACE’s chief task is “to combat piracy that threatens the integrity of the digital ecosystem”.

The European Intellectual Property Office says 12 per cent of EU citizens, roughly 54 million people, access or stream sports content from illegal online sources annually. ACE says there were already 185 billion visits to pirating sites in 2023, with a £22billion ($28bn) cost to the global economy.

UEFA has previously been involved in anti-piracy operations — including Operation Kratos in 2024 — which led to an illegal streaming network with 22 million users being taken down, after 112 searches and seizures of equipment and 102 suspects were identified. The body also collaborated with Meta last year to combat piracy on social media platforms it owns, Facebook and Instagram.

“With UEFA joining the world’s largest anti-piracy coalition, we are strengthening our fight to detect, deter, and dismantle online piracy everywhere,” said Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA and chairman of ACE. “UEFA’s membership bolsters ACE’s ability to defend sports content from nefarious players in real time – and amplifies the reach of our efforts to protect football fans and broadcasters across the globe.”

While UEFA is bringing existing connections and expertise to the table, it will also now have access to ACE’s ‘Live Tier’, which features a network of provisions — including real-time intelligence, links to law enforcement and legal agencies — when trying to identify illegal streaming services. ACE worked in collaboration with Egyptian authorities in August to disrupt the world’s largest online sports streaming site, Streameast, which had an annual audience of 1.6bn across 120 domains.

The move coincides with UEFA’s latest media rights tender process for the men’s 2027-33 cycle, which went to market on October 13. UC3, which brings together UEFA and European Football Clubs (EFC) — representing 800+ clubs on the continent — are also part of the ACE agreement. The aim is to achieve record media rights revenues in Europe’s five key markets of the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.

American agency Relevent is running the sales process for the first time, after taking over from UEFA’s long-term partners TEAM marketing last year. The target is to surpass the £4.3b ($5.7bn) mark and bring a new big streaming partner like Apple, Netflix or DAZN — all ACE coalition members — to the table, alongside existing broadcast and streaming partners.

“Together we are building something unique, with real ambition,” said UEFA president Alexander Ceferin in Rome last week, speaking to European club counterparts. “To deliver the most engaging football. The most innovative. The most accessible. To expand our core revenue streams. To inspire new fans to follow our competitions. To drive engagement with new audiences — especially in an ever-changing media and streaming rights landscape. And to make the most of digital platforms that bring the game closer than ever. This is how we will strengthen our clubs and keep European football at the very top.”

Those who work in the anti-piracy industry and law enforcement often refer to illegal streaming as an existential threat.

High subscription costs, landscape fragmentation and broader changes to consumer habits have pushed millions towards pirated streams via modified set-top boxes, other plug-in devices, apps and unauthorised sites. Subscriptions to piracy services — including access to all sports fixtures on various channels — can cost the same annually (£60, $80) as some legit services cost per month.

UEFA’s desire to join an industry-wide anti-piracy collaboration is testament to the seriousness with which it takes the issue, especially with media rights revenues key to leagues and clubs futures. Rights owners are required to show that they are protecting ‘the product’ as much as those paying for the rights themselves.

Premier League CEO Richard Masters told the Leaders sports conference in October that the league’s Singapore office “is principally, but not exclusively, about piracy,” adding that the organisation has “a substantial commitment” to broadcasters that “we will protect the rights that you have purchased” and “get the best possible return on your investment.”