Sports betting industry unfazed by Streameast shut down
Despite illegal sports steaming behemoth Streameast attracting a reported 130 million average monthly visits, its closure this week is unlikely to affect sports betting handle, according to industry analysts.
Streameast was shut down after a yearlong investigation, according to the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, a US-based anti-piracy organization.
The Athletic reported Wednesday that the network, comprised of 80 unauthorized domains generating 1.6 billion combined visits over the past year, provided free access to global sports fixtures, including Europe’s top soccer leagues and competitions, such as the Premier League and Champions League, as well as the NFL, NBA and MLB.
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment is a coalition of 50 media and entertainment organizations including Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix and Paramount that, with Egyptian law enforcement officials, conducted an operation August 24 to disrupt Streameast.
“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 ACE Chairman and Motion Picture Association Chief Executive Charles Rivkin in a statement.
“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.”
However, the shuttering of Streameast seems to have little or no implications for online sports betting.
“I see it as a de minimis impact if anything,” said Jonathan Michaels, principal of Michaels Strategies, a consulting firm. “Companies like Flutter/FanDuel and Bet365 have contracts with lots of different international leagues and would offer in-app streaming as a result.
“For the US market, I don’t think it will result in any material change in handle, perhaps something around the margins.”
Dan Kustelski, founder and Chief Executive of Chalkline Sports, admits that Streameast has garnered a tremendous amount of views, but the impact on OSB will be negligible.
“I can’t imagine that it being shut down will make a massive impact on betting, though,” Kustelski says. “Bettors are getting content from so many different channels, I can’t imagine one will be significant.”
Two men were arrested on suspicion of copyright infringement in El-Sheikh Zaid in the Giza Governorate of Egypt and have been detained. Authorities seized laptops and smartphones suspected of operating sites. Also confiscated were cash and multiple credit cards. Investigators also uncovered links to a shell company in the UAE allegedly used to launder advertising revenue totaling US$6.2 million since 2010, plus a further US$200,000 in cryptocurrency.
“Dismantling Streameast is a major victory for everyone who invests in and relies on the live sports ecosystem,” said DAZN Group Chief Operating Officer Ed McCarthy. “This criminal operation was siphoning value from sports at every level and putting fans across the world at risk.” The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment collaborated with law enforcement agencies including Europol, the US Department of Justice, Office of the US Trade Representative and National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre.
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