The Premier League has recently secured a new blocking order in the UK, targeting three major pirate streaming sites. These sites collectively receive over 20 million visits per month.
This move comes amidst a surge in traffic to these sports streaming websites. This surge is despite the ongoing UK anti-piracy campaign aimed at deterring the consumption of pirated football streams.
SportsHub the Primary Target
One of the primary targets of the blocking order is SportsHub. This site has experienced a significant increase in traffic, propelling it into the UK’s top 1,000 most-visited websites.
SportsHub operates through two main domains, sportshub.fan, and sportshub.stream. These domains direct users to different sections of the site, including a Reddit-labeled subdomain and a main page labeled “Buffstreams.”
In April, sportshub.stream alone served 16.6 million visits, showing a 108% increase compared to the previous month. Remarkably, traffic from the UK saw a staggering 190% uplift during the same period.
SportsHub’s popularity has positioned it as the 21st most popular sports website in the country, sandwiched between the official websites of Chelsea and UEFA.
Additional Targets: GiveMeRedditStream and FreeStreamsLive
The blocking order also targets two other prominent pirate streaming platforms, GiveMeRedditStream, and FreeStreamsLive.
GiveMeRedditStream, which operates mainly through an .xyz domain, attracted around 4.3 million visits in April. This is a 24% increase compared to March, with traffic from the UK also seeing an 18% uptick during this period.
FreeStreamsLive attracts most of its traffic (approximately 4.2 million visits per month) to a Malaysian domain. The site operates through various domains, with one notable exception being freestreams-live1.com, which was seized by United States authorities in late 2022.
Premier League’s Swift Action and ISP Cooperation
The Premier League filed the blocking application on May 1st. The listed defendants are the country’s largest internet service providers (ISPs), including British Telecommunications PLC, EE Limited, Plusnet PLC, Sky UK Limited, TalkTalk Telecom Limited, and Virgin Media Limited.
Recent trends show that none of the ISPs contested or appeared in court, as these are considered no-fault injunctions.
The speed at which the blocking order was granted remains unclear. If related to the mentioned platforms, permission to start blocking SportsHub, GiveMeRedditStreams, and FreeStreamsLive may have been signed off in less than 48 hours.
This swift action is likely to please the Premier League. However, the response from the site operators remains to be seen.
Conclusion
Despite the Premier League’s efforts and the ongoing anti-piracy campaign in the UK, the demand for pirate sports streams appears to be thriving. Many pirate suppliers offer their services for as little as £5 per month, often including a VPN to circumvent blocking measures.
As the debate over the effectiveness of site-blocking continues, it is clear that the Premier League faces a significant challenge in combating piracy. For more details on this story, refer to the report from TorrentFreak.
We want to know your thoughts on this story. What do you think about the Premier League targeting these sports websites? Let us know in the comment section below!
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