The hope when cable companies fell out of favor and streaming services picked up was that it would be a cheaper alternative way to watch the content you want.
Unfortunately, that has been muddied by rising costs, and many streaming users are now paying more for individual services than they did for cable. This has led to an uproar from fans, and to meet that demand, illegal streaming sites have popped up. They are often shut down quickly since they show sporting events for free, which are typically behind some form of paywall, whether a subscription or a pay-per-view price.
The most well-known of these services was known as StreamEast. Fans were devastated to learn that the week the 2025 NFL season began, StreamEast appeared to get shut down. The illegal site had dodged shutdown for years, but it looked like its number had finally been called. Then, an X account with the name of the company claimed that they hadn't been shut down, causing confusion but hope for fans and users.
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Here is more on StreamEast's apparent shutdown.
What is StreamEast?
StreamEast was a piracy platform. It was an illegal sports streaming platform that was known for showing live broadcasts of major sports like the NFL, NBA, MLB, top international soccer leagues, boxing and MMA events.
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StreamEast arrest details
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) work together to take down piracy sites. This used to involve individuals releasing DVDs of newly released movies for free, but in the internet era, the focus has shifted to targeting streaming sites.
Charles Rivkin, who leads ACE, said in a statement, "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. 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."
In the StreamEast sting, there were two real-life arrests that went down. Two men were arrested in Egypt "and authorities reportedly uncovered a shell company in the United Arab Emirates that allegedly laundered more than $6 million in advertising proceeds since 2010." StreamEast had 1.6 billion visits in the past year, per The Athletic.
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Why was StreamEast shut down?
StreamEast was shut down because it was illegally streaming sporting events for free. It wasn't headache-free, though. Users would have to sit through some required ads, and be sure not to click on anything that would cause more ads to pop up. It was the largest pirating site known for sports streaming, and it may not be gone forever, just temporarily sidelined. Other piracy sites like CrackStreams and MethStreams also went dark after a crackdown in the last year.
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What sports were on StreamEast?
StreamEast was known for all the major sporting events. The site would show NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL games. It would also show boxing events, MMA PPVs, international soccer games and NASCAR races. StreamEast would also have a stream for RedZone.
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StreamEast alternatives crop up on Reddit, elsewhere
Unfortunately for ACE, StreamEast getting shutdown will not be the last piracy site that will pop up. Reddit is full of similar sites that fans can find and use. Front Office Sports even reported that they were able to find a "mirror" site for StreamEast that is still up and running.