Nearly 3,000 websites have been blocked or seized for illegally streaming World Cup matches, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has said, in a sweeping enforcement action that spanned the Americas. More than 1,000 domains were shut down in the US alone during the tournament, with a similar number blocked in Colombia.
The operation, conducted under investigations named “operation offsides” and “operation red card”, involved enforcement agencies in America and across South America. “The sustained effort to seize more than a thousand domains dedicated to illegally streaming the World Cup confirms the administration’s commitment to intellectual property rights and to the success of the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” said the DOJ’s assistant attorney general A. Tysen Duva.
“Nearly 3,000 illegal streaming sites shut down in US and South America for pirating World Cup matches.”
Ivan J. Arvelo, director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (NIPRCC), said unauthorised broadcasting of World Cup matches violated intellectual property rights and “fuels criminal organizations”. The NIPRCC is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that largely oversaw the enforcement. The crackdown was also supported by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), whose chairman Charles Rivkin said on Monday that the World Cup was the “kind of global live event that piracy networks move quickly to exploit”. Fifa, beIN Media Group, NBC Universal, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Warner Brothers also backed the effort.
Illegal streaming of sports often occurs through websites created specifically for the event, and companies and broadcasters have estimated the activity costs them billions of dollars a year. Because of its global popularity, football has been found to be pirated at an “industrial scale”, according to analysts. The rising cost of broadcasting rights deals for matches has led to higher prices for fans at home, especially if they choose to pay for multiple services to watch their team play. This has driven some fans to turn to illegal streams to avoid such costs.
The Colombian Attorney General’s Office said it had made several arrests in connection with the operations. Four members of what was referred to as the “cybercriminal group” Los Ciberinfiltrados were arrested for allegedly gaining and distributing access to World Cup games illegally. Another 830 websites were blocked in Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and other countries. The DOJ had already announced at the end of last month it had taken down 400 webpages; the latest figures bring the total to almost 3,000.
Fifa and the other media entities did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Much of Fifa’s revenue comes from selling broadcasting rights to global media networks that want to televise matches.