The world’s biggest platform for live sports streaming, Streameast, has been shut down after a long practice of illegal streaming activities. The clampdown, orchestrated by the Egyptian police and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), marks a major win in the fight against digital piracy.
The anti-piracy group explained that the development is a milestone in its fight to detect and check criminal actors in illegal streaming globally. The illegal streaming platform has become so popular that it recorded more than 1.6 billion viewers in 2024. ACE revealed that traffic to Streameast’s various domains had originated primarily from the UK, US, Canada, the Philippines and Germany.
Streameast, based in Egypt and Dubai, has long been an internet streaming service which provided pirated sports videos. While other platforms charge substantial fees for access to live sports, Streameast delivers the same content completely free of charge. It runs pirated streams of sports such as Premier League football matches, Formula One races and Major League Baseball games.
Reacting to the achievement, ACE chairman Charles Rivkin said it was a landmark action that creates a level playing field for authorised platforms and channels to make their deserved returns. He added that the clampdown is a brand promotion for sports leagues, entertainment companies, and fans worldwide.
Streameast’s shutdown is also a response to recent claims that illegal sports streaming is taking a major stake in the broadcasting industry. With the total value of global media rights crossing $60 billion in 2024, digital piracy is gradually milking the returns. According to reports, the number of streaming platforms has increased this year, dominated by unauthorised platforms.
Experts have also lauded the crackdown on the world’s largest illegal streaming platform, explaining that the criminal operation not only puts the industry at risk but also places fans across the world in an unfair position.
As of now, people trying to access the Streameast website are being directed to an ACE web page suggesting channels they can watch legally
Also Read: Nigerian Copyright Commission suspends MovieBox.ng over piracy concerns.
Streameast: Illegal streaming platforms are banking on viewers’ affordability
Following the Streameast clampdown, there are concerns about whether the development will lead to a reduction in the number of illegal streaming platforms. While privacy is plainly flagged illegal, the ability of viewers to afford the legal broadcast fees raises another conversation.
Reports also show that monthly subscriptions to a sports viewing platform cost a minimum of $20 to $100 per month. While the affordability rate varies globally, not a substantial percentage of the world’s population can afford that price. And because one authorised streaming platform usually does not show everything, users are forced to subscribe to more than one.
An entertainment analyst, Ben Woods, reiterated that the associated high costs involved in watching sport legally fuel illegal streams. According to him, the younger generation of football fans has made it a habit of getting content free from social media.
“Cracking down on pirates directly is just one part of the solution. Only by exploring ways to make live sport more accessible will this issue become less of a problem for major sports leagues,” he noted, as cited by the BBC.
Meanwhile, the dominance of sports piracy has continued to place a huge burden on legal viewing platforms and companies. In July 2025, MultiChoice raised an alarm about the escalating issue of sports piracy, highlighting it as a crisis that jeopardises the entire global sports ecosystem.
According to the pay-TV company, about $28 billion in potential revenue is lost annually due to sports piracy. To address the challenge, MultiChoice and other broadcasters are introducing initiatives such as Partners Against Piracy (PAP). The collaboration seeks to unite media companies, governments, regulators, and law enforcement in fighting against piracy.
“Piracy does more than just siphon off revenue; it undermines an entire industry. It diminishes investment incentives, jeopardises business models for rights-holders and platforms, and forces leagues to reconsider their expansion into new markets,” MultiChoice said.
More of the company’s recent loss of subscribers and revenue in the African market has been attributed to the influx of illegal streaming platforms. MultiChoice has seen a huge decline in subscribers across major markets, including a 1.4 million subscriber loss in Nigeria within two years.
Technext Newsletter
Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!
