BT and Sky, the Premier League’s biggest TV partners, lobbied the USA Government to sanction the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia because of TV piracy as recently as January 2020, further complicating the projected Newcastle United takeover by the Middle Eastern nation’s Public Investment Fund.
BT and Sky’s Premier League deals are worth £4.55billion and the companies formed part of the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance’s submission to the US government this year, asking the US trade representative to retain the Saudi state on the priority watch-list of nations regarding TV piracy, because of the notorious Saudi-based beoutQ pirate broadcaster.