Ian Mallon: What's the harm in watching sport on a 'dodgy box'?

The Ryder Cup is one of the subscription sports highlights of the year. But how many people pay the real price is an intriguing question 

ALL LAUGHS: Ahead of one of the biggest sporting TV events of the year Europe players, from left, Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton during a team photocall before the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

THIS weekend marks one of the subscription sports highlights of the year, indeed of the last two years, as hundreds of thousands of Irish golf fans will watch the Ryder Cup on Sky Sports.

But how many viewers will do so through a legitimate pay-per-view service, and how many will watch through what is a now normalised and ‘acceptable’ face of sporting criminality?