European Court backs fans watching football on cheap decoders

The European Union's highest court says that football fans should be free to use the cheapest satellite decoder available to watch games, even if it sidesteps exclusive national broadcasting agreements.

The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that broadcasters setting up exclusive contracts for each EU nation and seeking to prohibit viewers from watching games with a cheap decoder card in another member state "is contrary to EU law," a decision which goes against England's lucrative Premier League.

The decision could have a huge impact on how the rights of England's Premier League are sold in the rest of Europe and how it creates revenue for the world's richest football league.