Yup, a publican went to court with Sky in the UK about this.
(I live in Southern England, and this comment is only from my experience.)
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publican [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisee_and_the_Publican
Wow, that's ridiculous. I can see why people are trying to find ways to get it cheaper.
It goes both ways; pubs are often packed to the rafters for games, with the beer flowing heavily throughout.
I can't blame pub owners for wanting to save money wherever they can. But I don't see this as being particularly expensive for the context.
700£/month would be an absolutely massive expense in my place, and there's essentially no chance we could afford it. We don't get much draw for sporting events, even the Superbowl or what have you.
That doesn't mean that everyone in the place during the Superbowl doesn't want it on, though.
So although it couldn't possibly pay for itself at my place, not having it would also cost us quite a lot when there are big games.
Home subscriptions are about £25.
That's an interesting statement. Presumably though the Premier League licenses their feeds to multiple companies in different countries - shouldn't that exhaust their rights then; meaning a pub could sub-license from a foreign country within the EEA. Otherwise they're perverting free trade within the EEA.