LaLiga Urges EU to Add Major VPNs to Piracy Watch List

Spain's primary soccer league, LaLiga, is pushing European authorities to formally classify major commercial VPN services as digital piracy threats. In a 14-page submission to the European Commission for its upcoming Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List, the league specifically singled out NordVPN, ProtonVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark, according to a report by TorrentFreak.

While rights holders traditionally use the EU watchlist to flag illicit streaming portals, torrent hubs, and cyberlockers, LaLiga is expanding its enforcement perimeter. The organization stated that its objection does not lie with VPN technology itself, but rather with commercial affiliate networks that market these tools directly to sports fans looking to bypass regional broadcast restrictions.

"The conduct that takes these services beyond neutral technical provision is the deliberate marketing of circumvention, conducted at arm's length through affiliate programmes," LaLiga wrote in its filing, as reported by TorrentFreak.

According to the submission, third-party publishers and digital creators routinely produce guides showing consumers how to access free or discounted foreign match feeds by utilizing VPNs. These online guides earn commissions by embedding affiliate links to discounted subscription tiers, effectively monetizing the circumvention of territorial licensing pacts.

For international sports leagues and media conglomerates, territorial exclusivity remains the foundation of multi-billion-dollar broadcast valuations. As Hollywood Tomorrow notes, the push against VPN affiliate marketing reflects mounting urgency among sports rights owners to defend geographically segmented distribution models in a borderless streaming landscape.

The inclusion of VPN operators on official regulatory piracy lists would mark an aggressive shift in intellectual property enforcement, bringing standard internet privacy tools under the same regulatory scrutiny previously applied to hosting intermediaries and pirate IPTV suppliers.