Court ruling boost for pub trade

An Eaton pub is attracting hundreds more football fans after a landmark case was won earlier this year.

A Portsmouth landlady won her legal battle to show live football using a foreign TV decoder in October.

The Cellar House is one of many taking advantage of the ruling, saving thousands in Sky subscriptions.

When Karen Murphy who owns the Red, White and Blue pub in Portsmouth won her case against Sky and the Premier League, landlord Paul Malynn made the decision to switch to a foreign decoder card. It means fans can watch any Premier League game even though Sky own the broadcast rights.

Since introducing it, numbers have soared, with 200 more customers watching Norwich City away games.

For Paul Malynn it made financial sense to use the foreign TV decoder card, instead of investing in a contract with Sky Sports: “Last season I paid over £14,000 for Sky and I lost about half of that. Part of the cost of Sky is also to do with your property’s rental value, in which they charge around 35%.”

Under his current contract with EU Satellite Systems he pays a fixed price of £240 plus VAT a month instead. EU Satellite Systems show matches from the top league in England covered by a TV station in Latvia with commentary and analysis from ex-professional footballers such as Andy Townsend and Efan Ekoku.

Paul Malynn believes the legal ruling could change the power struggle in football coverage: “Sky will lose the monopoly and more people will watch more live Premier League football. Sky have had a monopoly for 10-15 years.”

If Norwich remain in the Premiership then The Cellar House can expect even busier days ahead.

And if more pubs follow Karen Murphy’s lead, then Sky’s stranglehold on live Premier League football could loosen considerably: “I hope it will continue. There’s lots going on in respect to the legal side but from the general public’s point of view it means more people seeing games and breaking the monopoly. It’s like a breathe of fresh air for the pub industry.”

Sky and its lawyers are currently building another case against the appeal won by Mrs Murphy in the European Court of Justice.