The NFL season kicks off today with the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Dallas Cowboys. But for some cord-cutting football fans, the main platform they’d use to watch this matchup has suddenly gone dark.
What happened: Streameast, the world’s largest illegal sports streamer, was shut down in an operation led by an anti-piracy group and Egyptian police. The site was immensely popular, racking up 136 million average monthly visits, mostly from the U.S. and Canada.
- Streameast wasn’t just used by cheapskate college kids. In a viral incident last year, freakin’ LeBron James was caught on camera using it to watch an NBA game.
- While law enforcement had previously seized domains related to Streameast, this is the first time that arrests have also been made in connection with those running the organization.
Why it matters: Illicit sports streamers are so prominent in part because of how difficult and expensive it is to navigate the sports broadcasting landscape. Complex rights deals mean that fans of certain teams or leagues require multiple subscriptions to watch every game.
- And these subscriptions don’t come cheap. In July, Sportsnet announced it will raise the annual price of its standard streaming service by 25% to $249.99 plus tax.
Zoom out: In extreme cases, Streameast became arguably the top option for fans to watch local games. A years-long fight between Comcast and TV station Altitude Sports in Colorado meant that for years, most cable subscribers couldn’t watch local NBA and NHL teams.—QH