The world’s largest illegal sports gambling and broadcast pirate website has been shuttered after officials in Egypt raided the enterprise and made arrests.
The Athletic’s Adam Leventhal reported that the illegal site, called Streameast, was shut down on charges of piracy.
Leventhal added that an international coalition called the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) pressured the Egyptian government to take action against the website. ACE, made up of companies including Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix, and Paramount, worked with the Egyptian government to track the gambling site.
Streameast reportedly had an average of 136 million monthly visitors and also had domains in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, and the Philippines.
“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,” Charles Rivkin, chairman of ACE and chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), said in a press release.
“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,” Rivkin added.
Along with the two men arrested, authorities seized laptops, cell phones, and other equipment associated with the gambling site. Cash and credit cards were also confiscated, and officials said that the site was linked to a shell company out of the United Arab Emirates. The company reportedly laundered $6.2 million since 2010 and earned $15,000 in cryptocurrency. Authorities have also linked a string of real estate deals and properties to the gambling site’s operators.
In 2024, NBA star LeBron James caught flak for using Streameast to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks.
Along with the gambling, the site also pirated sports broadcasts, including pay-per-view boxing events, MMA fights, F1, European soccer, and most U.S. sporting events.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.