Egyptian authorities together with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) have shut down the piracy network Streameast.
With 80 associated domains, Streameast recorded 1.6 billion visits, making it the largest illicit live sports streaming operation in the world.
“Today, ACE scored a resounding victory in its fight to detect, deter, and dismantle criminal perpetrators of digital piracy: by taking down the largest illegal live sports platform anywhere,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman of ACE and Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association. “With this landmark action, we have put more points on the board for sports leagues, entertainment companies, and fans worldwide – and our global alliance will stay on the field as long as it takes to identify and target the biggest piracy rings across the globe.”
Streameast offered users unauthorized access to matches from Europe’s top soccer leagues, including England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga, France’s Ligue 1 and Portugal’s Primeira Liga. The piracy network also provided illicit access to UEFA club competitions (Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, among others) and international qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro and UEFA Nations League, and CONMEBOL Copa America.
“Dismantling Streameast is a major victory for everyone who invests in and relies on the live sports ecosystem,” said Ed McCarthy, COO of DAZN Group. “This criminal operation was siphoning value from sports at every level and putting fans across the world at risk. We commend the Egyptian authorities and ACE for their action in bringing down the world’s largest illegal sports streaming operation.”
In addition to soccer, Streameast provided access to sport-specific piracy sites for American sports including the National Football League (NFL) the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB). There were also unauthorized sites for pay-per-view boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and motorsports (including Formula One and Moto GP).
Site traffic to the various domains originated primarily from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Philippines and Germany.
All sites will be redirecting to the ACE “Watch Legally” page.
