Fastly and LaLiga have teamed up to develop new technology aimed at tackling illegal streaming of live sports.
The collaboration focuses on real-time detection and removal of pirated streams, with LaLiga estimating piracy costs its clubs between $700 million (€645 million) and $800 million (€735 million) annually.
The two companies began working together in 2025, responding to the scale of illegal streaming activity, with numerous unauthorised streams appearing during matchdays. As part of the partnership, Fastly has developed an AI-driven detection system that uses proprietary content signals to identify illegal streams as they occur.
The move comes as the industry continues to grapple with the scale of live sports piracy. A 2025 study by Grant Thornton found at least 10.8 million unauthorised retransmissions of live events in 2024, with more than 81% never taken down and only 2.7% addressed within the first 30 minutes.
Fastly said its approach enables platforms to remove illegal content with greater precision, reducing the time pirated streams remain available while avoiding broader measures such as regional blocking.
Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, said the league had already reduced piracy of its streams in Spain by 60% during the 2024/25 season through a combination of legal, educational and technological measures, supported by partners including Fastly.
Kelly Shortridge, chief product officer at Fastly, said the company’s strategy is designed to protect content without disrupting legitimate viewing, adding that the partnership reflects a broader effort to develop scalable anti-piracy solutions with industry stakeholders.
Fastly and LaLiga said they are also working with other technology providers, publishers and regulators to develop best practices and software tools that can detect and disable illegal streams while preserving legitimate traffic.
