One of the world’s largest piracy networks, which offered live streams to sports fans looking to evade streaming subscriptions, has been shut down, according to a coalition of media companies.
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a coalition of more than 50 global entertainment companies and film studies, announced on Sept. 3 that in collaboration with Egyptian authorities it had shut down Streameast. Through over 80 domains, the illegal sports streaming platform logged more than 1.6 billion visits in the past year, ACE stated in a news release.
ACE worked with Egyptian authorities from July 2024 through June 2025 to investigate and ultimately arrest two operators based in Sheikh Zayed City, Egypt, on Aug. 24, according to an ACE statement shared with USA TODAY. Among the confiscated items were three laptops and four smartphones used to operate the websites, in addition to 10 Visa cards containing about 6 million Egyptian pounds, which is around $123,613.
Streameast was popular with viewers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Philippines and Germany, ACE states. Viewers could stream American sports like the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. Other popular sporting events streamed through the network included England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and Germany’s Bundesliga.
Sports fans react to Streameast shutdown
Despite the illegalities of Streameast, many sports fan are upset about its takedown, especially as the NFL season starts on Sept. 4.
‘Losing Streameast before the start of the NFL season feels like your best friend just told you they’re moving across the country right before a school year starts,’ TikTok user Goose Talks Sports said in a video on Sept. 3.
‘For those who don’t know, I don’t think y’all understand the magnitude … of how many times Streameast came in the clutch,’ TikTok user Lontizzle Yaps said in a video on Sept. 3.
Sports fans pointed to the price of sports streaming services as a reason why Streameast was so popular. For context, an ESPN Unlimited subscription, which includes streaming for programming like the NFL, NBA and WNBA, NHL, U.S. Open and Sports Center is $30 per month. A YouTube TV Sports Programming subscription, which also includes non-sports networks, is $83 per month.
The move will also impact NFL viewers this coming season, with popular streaming options like NFL Sunday Ticket and RedZone collectively costing fans hundreds of dollars.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.