THE Premier League will take action against Periscope users if they are found illegally streaming matches through smartphones.
The Prem have moved to take action after a Manchester City fan was found to have pulled in 139,000 viewers after broadcasting the entire FA Cup game against Crystal Palace from inside Selhurst Park.
The league already have deals in place with other social media platforms to stop illegal broadcasts.
People watching from around the world, including the US, Nepal and South Korea, meant the audience far exceeded the 13,979 supporters inside the ground.
The fan, Josh Chambers, told The Times: “I mainly did it for my dad because he couldn’t make it to the game so I thought I would try Periscope and see how it worked as the game was televised.
“I also thought there would be other people trying to watch the game as well.
“I am not sure what the rules are but I wasn’t too worried about getting into trouble.”
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The 23-year-old, who works for Surrey Council, added: “I hadn’t done it before but it seemed like an obvious thing to use Periscope for.
“I would do it again if I thought that’s what people wanted.
“I found out afterwards it was on forums and Reddit and Facebook. I was getting comments from all over the world including Toronto and Shanghai.
“There were probably 18,000 [13,979] in the stadium but I was able to share it with a lot more.”
The Premier League has not found any cases of it happening at games yet.
But clubs are encouraged to tell stewards to keep an eye out for anyone broadcasting.
A company is already employed to look through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to ensure illegal broadcasts are taken down.
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