Streameast, world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform, shut down in sting

Streameast — the world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform — has been shut down after a year long investigation, according to a leading United States-based anti-piracy organisation.

The network of 80 unauthorised domains generated 1.6billion combined visits over the past year, providing free access to global sports fixtures, including Europe’s top football leagues and competitions, such as the Premier League and Champions League, as well as the NFL, NBA and MLB.

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The Athletic has been informed by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) — a coalition of 50 media and entertainment organisations including Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix and Paramount — that an operation alongside Egyptian law enforcement officials took place on Sunday August 24 to disrupt Streameast’s dominant position in the illegal streaming market.

Traffic to the site reached 136million average monthly visits, with domains primarily originating from the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and Germany.

“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 (MPA).

“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.”

Two men were arrested on suspicion of copyright infringement in El-Sheikh Zaid in the Giza Governorate of Egypt — which is approximately 20 miles west of capital Cairo — and have subsequently been detained. During the raid, authorities seized laptops and smartphones suspected of operating the sites.

In addition to confiscating cash and multiple credit cards, investigators also uncovered links to a shell company in the UAE allegedly used to launder advertising revenue totalling £4.9million ($6.2m) since 2010, plus a further £150,000 ($200,000) in crypto currency. Multiple real estate properties in Egypt are also suspected of having been purchased with illicit revenues.

ACE work in collaboration with law enforcement agencies around the world, including Europol, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre.

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“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, which is part of the ACE collaboration. “This criminal operation was siphoning value from sports at every level and putting fans across the world at risk.”

In addition to football, Streameast provided pirated access to pay-per-view boxing and MMA, F1 and all the major U.S. sports.

In 2024, LA Lakers star Lebron James was seen — via a social media clip — watching an NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks courtside on Streameast. At the time, fans of the site feared on social media that the attention would lead to the site being shut down.

LA Lakers star LeBron James was caught using Streameast while courtside at an NBA game last year (David Richard-USA TODAY Sports).

“This action swiftly dismantled what was once the largest illegal sports streaming operation in the world, and I applaud the Egyptian authorities for their partnership,” said Larissa Knapp, executive vice president and chief content protection officer of MPA, which is a leading contributor to the ACE initiative.

“It’s further proof that no piracy network is beyond the reach of coordinated global enforcement.”

At the time of publishing, Streameast’s original domain is no longer active, however a selection of posts on Reddit suggest that back-up domains — or those purporting to be replacement services — are now up and running. One of those platforms carrying the name Streameast claims to be “the ultimate destination for free sports streaming”.

ACE have confirmed to The Athletic that they are aware of what they call ‘copycat’ sites — where impersonators try and capitalise on a gap in the market — and are currently investigating whether the sites are related.

Data from Brand Finance — a global brand valuation consultancy that carried out a 2025 survey into fan behaviour — found that 43 per cent of 14,000 respondents in 13 countries considered using unofficial live stream websites rather than paying full price to watch sport.

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While the action against Streameast will have a global impact, there have also been recent prosecutions in the U.K.

Stephen Woodward was sentenced at York Crown Court on July 11 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to running three illegal streaming websites in Thirsk, Yorkshire that generated an income of £1million ($1.3m).

Woodward used funds from the criminal operation to buy designer clothes, jewellery, holidays and a Jaguar sports car worth £91,000 ($123,000). His brother, Christopher, was also given a 15-month sentence for associated money laundering offences, after the investigation by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) branch of City of London Police.

(Top image: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

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