.png)
Illegal sports streaming is a widespread issue. But which countries are most likely to access these pirated services? To find out, we've analysed search volume by country for the world's biggest illegal sports streaming sites.
In the US alone, the number of people estimated to be using illegal streaming services to watch live sports events can be as high as 17 million for a single marquee fixture, such as the Super Bowl.
A 2023 survey of sports fans in Britain also revealed 1 in 10 admitting to watching illegal broadcasts of a sporting event in the space of six months.
Piracy of live sports also costs rights holders billions of dollars in lost revenue. As part of their 2021 survey of 6,000 sports fans, Synamedia and Ampere estimated the cost of missing revenue to exceed $28 billion USD per year.
While there are multiple ways of accessing illegal sports streams, such as through Fire Sticks and social media, the most popular method is via a website according to those who admitted to doing so in Britain.
To understand more about where the scale of illegal sports streaming is greatest, we can look at the most searched-for illegal sports streaming sites and in which countries people are searching for them the most.
Our research
Using Ahrefs keyword explorer tool, we measured the average number of monthly Google searches per country for the world’s most popular illegal sports streaming sites.
We then compared each country’s total number of searches for illegal sports streams proportionally to its population (per 100,000) of internet users.
Key statistics
With 10,797 searches for illegal sporting streams per 100,000 internet users, Jamaica ranks as the world’s most likely country to stream sports illegally.
The United Kingdom (2,522 per 100,000 internet users) ranks within the top 20 most likely countries in the world to stream sports illegally.
In Asia, Qatar is the most likely country to search for illegal sports streaming sites with 5,221 searches per 100,000 internet users.
In South America, Argentina sees the most searches for illegal sports streaming sites with 2,501 per 100,000 internet users.
Jamaica is the most likely country in the world to search for illegal sport streaming sites
Relative to the number of internet users, Jamaica is by far the most likely country to see people searching online for illegal sports streams at 10,797 monthly searches per 100,000 people.
Jamaica is almost twice as likely as second-placed Qatar (5,221 per 100,000) and more than three times as likely as Trinidad and Tobego (3,522) which is the next North American country to rank in the global top 10.
Four African countries also rank within the top 10, with Mauritius (4,388 per 100,000), Kenya (4,278), Tunisia (3,819) and Morocco (3,246) all showing above-average rates of search volume compared to the rest of the world.
As the map below shows, some of world's largest and most populated countries rank low on relative search volume for illegal sports streams. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are any less likely to stream sports illegally. Instead, they may be more likely to access the streams through other methods than websites, such as through set-top box IPTV or by unauthorised downloading of channels on to a Fire Stick.
In South America, Argentina ranks highest (2,501 searches per 100,000 people) ahead of Suriname (2,431 per 100,000) in second place.
On the 12th July 2024, the founder of Fútbol Libre, a major pirate football streaming site, was arrested in the Argentinian city of Mendoza. The Argentine judiciary also recently ordered 50 websites to be blocked that were illegally broadcasting live matches.
Malta, Portugal and Cyprus rank highest in Europe for searches of illegal sports streaming sites
Malta leads Europe as the country where people are most likely to search for pirated sports streams. For every 100,000 internet users there, an average of 3,461 streams for known sports streaming sites occur every month there.
Portugal ranks in second place among European countries. In March 2024, SportBusiness reported that legitimate subscriptions to sports streaming providers in Portugal decreased for the first time since 2022—equivalent to approximately 60,000 subscribers cancelling their pay-per-view packages.
The United Kingdom is the fourth most likely country in Europe to see people search for illegal sports streams at 2,522 per 100,000 people.
In their efforts to crack down on access to pirated sporting events online, Google removed domains related to IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) providers from its UK search results in May 2024. Although, IPTV blockages do not stop internet users from accessing illegal sports streams through other methods or other search queries.
Canada more than twice as likely as the United States to search for illegals sports streams
Jamaica leads North America (and the rest of the world) for how many monthly searches are made (10,797) per 100,000 people for illegal sports streams.
Athletics, cricket and football have widespread popularity in Jamaica. However, pay-per-view packages to watch major competitions such as the English Premier League can be expensive enough to nudge people towards unauthorised ways of watching sports instead.
Elsewhere in North America, Canadians (1,143 per 100,000 people) are more than twice as likely as those in the USA (482 per 100,000 people) to search for illegal sports streaming websites.
Subscribing to licensed sports broadcasters in Canada can cost between $179.00 to $379.99 per year. Depending on the package and provider, these prices would give access to at least four major sporting competitions across a whole season.
Qatar leads Asia as the most likely place for searches of illegal sports streams
Qatar’s World Cup 2022 legacy may contribute to such high interest in streaming international sporting events.
While attendances of top-flight club matches in Qatar average at around 5,000 spectators, the Middle Eastern country’s 5,221 monthly searches per 100,000 people is the highest in the whole of Asia for illegal sports streams.
In South East Asia, Singapore ranks highest for illegal sports streaming searches at 2,710 per 100,000 people.
In March 2024, the English Premier League announced that it had obtained a court order for internet service providers (ISPs) to block 25 illegal streaming sites that are popular in Singapore.
Advice for people thinking of illegally streaming sports
Economic constraints coupled with a lack of access and availability to watch sports can lead many people to take a chance with streaming through illegal means.
However, streaming comes with a number of risks that can cause considerable harm to a person’s online security and finances. It exposes users to hackers, and various types of malware and fraud.
In the UK alone, a 2024 survey by Crimestoppers showed 2.8 million people were hacked by a third party and almost 1 million had money stolen after accessing illegal streams.
Illegal streaming sites also have no parental controls. Younger viewers who access these sites can easily be exposed to age-inappropriate content.
Check if a streaming website seems safe and legal
In the United Kingdom, audiences can use a site such as getitrightfromagenuinesite.org to select a trustworthy source to stream sporting events from.
Generally, if you spot any of the signs listed below on a sports streaming website, then it is likely to be unsafe to use:
An uncommon URL or URL extension (such as .xyz instead of .com): They might use a series of numbers, random letters, or domain extensions from less common countries
Redirection to multiple URLs: Being redirected through multiple URLs or domains is a common tactic used by illegal streaming sites to avoid detection
Spelling mistakes and grammar errors
Multiple ads popping up on the screen
Broken images and graphics
HTTP rather than HTTPS: HTTPS essentially means HTTP with encryption and verification
No contact information or legal disclaimers present on the site
A web page that asks you for financial details without a padlock image appearing to the left side of the URL
Warnings from security software: Often your computer or internet browser’s security systems will warn you of a streaming site being potentially harmful or unsafe. However, do not rely solely on these systems to warn you about every unsafe site.
Methodology
For this research, analysts at SportingPost.com compared the average number of monthly search queries for 25 of the world’s biggest illegal sports streaming sites. The analysis considers 20,826,100 monthly searches for illegal sports streaming sites broken down by country. For each country the total average number of monthly searches was compared against their local internet user population. The final analysis omitted countries with fewer than 100,000 internet users.
Search volume per country was sourced from Ahrefs.com. Internet users per country was sourced from CIA.gov.
Data correct as of July 2024.
Notes on the data
This data only captures a fragment of audiences who are accessing pirated sports streams around the world, as people can access them through various means outside of a search engine, such as set-top boxes, Fire Stick downloads, social media and public venues. As such, this data should only be interpreted to show general audience interest in popular pirated sports streaming websites. For a full list of sites and search terms considered, click here.
