Streameast, the world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform, has been shut down after a sting operation by law enforcement in Egypt. According to the media trade group Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, 1.6 billion people visited Streameast domains in the last year for free access to top global soccer leagues, the NFL, the NBA, and more. 

But the draw for sports fans wasn’t just financial. 

Independent sports writer Joon Lee pays for every major streaming service that offers live sports. The annual price tag? Over $2,600. 

“That is the cost of being a hard-core sports fan in 2025,” he said.

Back when cable was king, Lee said he could have gotten the same access behind just one paywall. But in the streaming era, leagues can make more money slicing and dicing their media rights and selling them to multiple services. 

“I often find myself struggling to figure out which channel the games are on, and it's literally my job to be able to watch the games,” Lee said.

Even for fans who are willing to shell out, Lee said keeping up with a team the legal way has gotten onerous. “You go on streameast.com and, regardless of what network the game is on, it’s gonna be there. It’s just more simple.”

According to the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, that platform had the broadest reach among illegal streamers. 

“If there’s friction in the system where they can’t see an illegal game through an illegal streaming site, they’re more likely to probably go find a legitimate avenue to get it,” said Larissa Knapp, a VP with the Alliance. 

But rival and copycat platforms are already filling the void, according to Jeremy Goldman, an analyst with eMarketer. 

“Really, until the industry delivers more affordable bundles and there are global licensing models in place, I would expect illegal operators to continue to attract fans,” and exploit their frustration with an increasingly fragmented landscape, he said.