A postman has been jailed for three years for selling illegal Premier League streams and loaded Fire Sticks to almost 2,000 customers.
Michael David Barrow, 48, of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, ran the illegal IPTV service ‘MB Streams’ over a five-year period, pocketing more than £200,000 during that time.
Although difficult to quantify precisely, broadcasters such as Sky Sports, TNT Sports, and BT Sport are estimated to have suffered losses of around £6million as a result of his actions, according to the prosecutor.
The judge told the father of two at Swansea Crown Court on Monday that he had engaged in ‘large-scale commercial fraud’ driven by ‘pure greed’, despite knowing the likely sentence he would face if caught.
Barrow encouraged customers to disguise the nature of the transfers – which were made via PayPal or directly to his bank account – by referring to them as payments for classic or retro football kits.
Police had previously visited his home to warn him that authorities were aware of his activities following reports to the CrimeStoppers charity in 2021, and he was issued with a cease-and-desist notice and given details of previous court cases in which defendants had received custodial sentences.
But Barrow continued his operation and took steps to avoid being caught again, including insisting that customers communicate with him via the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
Barrow also had his account suspended by Facebook for violating intellectual property rules.
Ari Alibhai, prosecuting on behalf of the Premier League, told the court that for more than four years Barrow had supplied over 1,800 customers with apps and modified Firesticks
It is believed that a live football game can draw ‘tens of thousands’ of viewers to illegal streams
The court heard that Barrow only accepted new customers on recommendation from existing customers and insisted on the use of full names to avoid the operation being, as he put it, ‘infiltrated by Sky agents’.
Ari Alibhai, prosecuting on behalf of the Premier League, told the court that for more than four years he had supplied over 1,800 customers with apps and modified Firesticks at about £120 a year, a fraction of what legitimate broadcasters charged.
Barrow had previously pleaded guilty to three offences of making and supplying articles for use in fraud when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
Representing Barrow, barrister Megan Williams said he had expressed genuine remorse for what he had done and accepted that what he had started in 2019 as a ‘misguided wish’ to help friends and family then ‘snowballed’ into something far larger.
Judge Paul Thomas noted that while Barrow was engaged in the online piracy he had a ‘steady income’ working for the postal service, and said it was clear the defendant’s motivation was simply ‘pure greed’.
He was sentenced to 38 months in prison and will serve 40 per cent of the term in custody before being released on licence.
His is the latest in a number of high-profile cases as broadcasters seek to crack down on the sharp rise in pirated content. Research published in 2023 by the Intellectual Property Office found that nearly four million people in the UK had illegally streamed live sport in the previous year.
In 2025 a man based in Halifax was jailed for two years after cheating legitimate providers out of more than £108,000 over an 18-month period between 2020 and 2022.
Sunny Kanda (pictured) was jailed for two years in 2025 after cheating legitimate providers out of more than £108,000 over an 18-month period between 2020 and 2022
The Amazon Fire Stick is an entirely legal piece of technology in its original form, allowing users to stream legitimate services including Netflix and BBC iPlayer, but it can be easily modified (or ‘jailbroken’) to enable access to apps showing pirated sports content.
So many people are watching these illegal streams that the scale is now comparable to ‘industrial’ theft, according to media analysts at Enders, via the Financial Times.
A single high-profile event, such as a live football match, can draw ‘tens of thousands’ of viewers away from legitimate streams and towards pirated content, the report stated.
Fans argue that this trend is driven by the sharp rise in monthly subscription fees for streaming services.
In the 2023-24 season, it is estimated that fans needed to pay around £870 per year in TV subscriptions to watch all televised Premier League matches.
