The biggest illegal sports streaming platform in the world has been shut down in a piracy sting, according to multiple reports.
Streameast, which reportedly accumulated 1.6 billion visits across 80 different domains over the last year, was busted in a joint operation on August 24 involving The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), which is a coalition of media and entertainment companies, and Egyptian law enforcement officials.
According to The Athletic, two Egyptian men were arrested in the sting and charged with copyright infringement. Authorities found links to more than $6 million related to the operation, per Sportico, and were also able to seize various electronic devices used to transmit the streams, including laptops and smartphones.
“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.”
Streameast had become a behemoth
Best known for carrying illicit broadcasts of NBA, NFL and MLB games, as well as prominent European and South American soccer matches, Streameast also had access to sites that streamed boxing, MMA and various motorsports, according to Deadline.
The site reportedly averaged 136 million average monthly visits from around the world.
All in all, the investigation which led to the successful sting operation was more than a year in the making.
Streameast users devastated by the news
While the ACE, which is headed by the Motion Picture Association and includes Amazon, Netflix and Paramount, among other corporations, is touting the recent crackdown, Streameast loyalists on the internet are mourning the loss of their free content source.
“An actual tragedy,” one X/Twitter user wrote.
“RIP Streameast man. Painted as criminals by the media now, but heroes to sports fans everywhere providing access to watch stuff when entertainment networks kept charging asinine amounts of money to watch our favorites teams and sports,” said podcaster Brett Marshall.
“We can’t get aid in some countries but they got a sting operation to shut down StreamEast. I hate this world,” a third person added on X/Twitter.
“Streameast dead the day before the NFL season. I blame Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones and Putin in no particular order,” chimed in fantasy football writer Ian Hartitz.
“Cheers, you did your big one… you’ll be missed Streameast,” another commenter wrote.
