The largest illegal sports streaming website on the planet has finally been shut down, according to a report.
The platform, which achieved over 1.6billion visits over the last 12 months, played host to various events as fans clambered to watch the likes of the Premier League and the Champions League.
Named ‘Streameast’, the site also showed to the likes of the NFL and NBA, and has been closed after a year-long investigation that reportedly resulted in two arrests.
According to The Athletic, Streameast played host to 80 unauthorised domains, with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) – a group of 50 media and entertainment companies including the likes of Amazon and Netflix – saying that an operation alongside Egyptian law enforcement officials took place on Sunday August 24.
It is said that two men were arrested on suspicion of copyright infringement in El-Sheikh Zaid, in the Giza Governorate of Egypt. Authorities are reported to have seized phones and laptops suspected of being involved in the hosting of the site.
Cash and credit cards were also confiscated, with investigators also said to have found links to a company in the UAE, which has allegedly been used to launder £4.9million of advertising revenue since 2010 and a further £150,000 in crypto currency.
The world’s largest illegal streaming site ‘Streameast’ (not pictured) has reportedly been shut down
‘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).
He added: ‘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 averaged 136m monthly visitors, and fans feared it would be targeted by law enforcement when basketball icon LeBron James was seen on the site watching an NBA game while courtside last year.
Officials from legitimate streaming platforms had previously raised concerns, with Ed McCarthy, COO of DAZN Group – part of ACE – saying: ‘Dismantling Streameast is a major victory for everyone who invests in and relies on the live sports ecosystem.
‘This criminal operation was siphoning value from sports at every level and putting fans across the world at risk.’
A DAZN executive had previously said, as per The Athletic: ‘I think there’s almost an argument to say you can’t get exclusive rights anymore because piracy is so bad.’
Streameast’s original domain is no longer active, with the site having domains in the likes of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. It has been suggested, though, that back-up domains are up and running.
ACE have said they are aware of the threat of ‘copycat’ sites and are investigating whether any sites are related.
Stephen Woodward was sentenced to three years in jail earlier this year after pleading guilty to running three illegal streaming sites in Yorkshire
The operation is a major positive for ACE sites, who often charge subscription fees to watch content they have achieved the rights to stream in a contract.
For example, in December 2023, the Premier League agreed a new £6.7bn TV rights deal with Sky and TNT Sports.
Any potential punishment is currently unclear, but, in July, 36-year-old Stephen Woodward was jailed for three years at York Crown Court after pleading guilty to running three illegal streaming sites in Yorkshire.
In doing so, he generated an income of more than £1million, spending money on a Jaguar sports car, holidays and jewellery.
