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Piracy in sports has increased, and pay-per-view events in particular are often accessed through illegal channels. Turki Alalshikh, an adviser to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia, this week proposed drastically reducing PPV prices to curb piracy. American boxer Chris Algieri has an even more drastic idea: “Make it free,” he says. UFC CEO Dana White, meanwhile, sees more opportunities to prosecute pirates.

In recent years, rights holders of major sporting events have repeatedly complained that piracy of live broadcasts of sporting events is increasing exponentially.

They called on lawmakers to toughen legislation and urged law enforcement to take the problem much more seriously.

Last month, US authorities took action and seized several domain names belonging to sports streaming site Streameast, which has millions of monthly users. The seizures were carried out as per the regulations but did not achieve the desired effect, as Streameast remains available through alternative domains.

According to the site’s operators, it won’t stop until sports streaming becomes more affordable for the public. The optimal price is not yet known, but plans to reduce the price are openly discussed.

Affordable sports streaming

To combat piracy, Greek sports streaming services significantly reduced their package prices a few weeks ago. The decision has produced many satisfied consumers who now feel that they are getting their money’s worth.

Similar initiatives are being taken elsewhere, with Turki Alalshikh, a member of the Saudi royal family and a driving force behind many major boxing events in Saudi Arabia, calling for lower PPV prices this week.

Speaking to TalkSport, His Excellency said that high prices are driving people to pirate websites and services, which is ultimately bad for sport.

“I dream of a PPV with a good price to make the fans happy and get them to sign up and watch it legally. Usually when I see a high PPV, a lot of people are watching the fight illegally and that is not healthy for the sport of boxing and the platform,” Alalshikh said.

The solution is simple. Alalshikh will look to make the main fight events in Saudi Arabia available during the Riyadh season for £20 in England and less than $20 worldwide.

“If I offer the fans good fights at a good price, I will grow my fan base,” Alalshikh explained.

Do it for free!

While these drastic price cuts would be a big step, some want to go even further. One of them is American boxer Chris Algieri, who has a proposal that should appeal to even the most diehard pirates.

The boxer and former kickboxer appeared on Probox TV and discussed a price reduction plan proposed by Alalshikh. According to Algieri, $20 could still be a barrier for many people, so it makes more sense to go all out and offer access to PPV events for free.

“I don’t know if that’s a way to fight piracy, because $20 is still $20. If you’re going to steal it, free is better than $20,” Algieri said. “Just make it free,” he added.

Theoretically, $20 per viewer could generate more revenue per event than $40 if the total number of viewers more than doubled. However, free access to streams is not a truly sustainable business model.

Algieri is aware of this and does not propose making fights free forever. Rather, he sees them as a temporary measure to increase the sport’s fan base. After that, the events can become chargeable again.

Free PPV events are probably too much to ask for at this point. Algieri believes the proposed price cuts would be a good start and he is keen to see if this would disproportionately increase viewership.

“I like the idea of ​​combat sports fans being able to see their favorite fighters at an affordable price and not be prevented from seeing their favorite fighters,” Algieri said.

Dana White and “Streameast” enter the Octagon

While price-cutting is music to the ears of boxing fans, not everyone agrees. UFC CEO Dana White, for example, told reporters on Tuesday that he sees more benefit in an offensive approach by pursuing pirates in court.

“I’m not going to tell you in detail what we do at every event, but we crack down on piracy and you saw a few years ago we started prosecuting people,” White said. “That’s how you fight piracy. Start prosecuting people for theft, for fuck’s sake.”

White’s aggressive tone toward pirates is not new; similar threats have been made in the past.

Joshua vs. Dubois will be available in the UK for £19.95, with prices in other countries yet to be officially confirmed. However, as far as we know, UFC has not yet taken any action against people using pirated streams.

Still, White’s fighting words might be enough for some to avoid trying the “pirate” alternatives, including the aforementioned streaming platform Streameast. For some, Dana’s stance on piracy is a form of entertainment in itself.

A comment by ACD MMA on X about the rivalry sparked a response from the Streameast News Network, which has no affiliation with the Streameast site.

“He’s desperate. He’s making up lies and hoping it will stop a few hundred people from clicking on the link,” the unofficial Streameast account responded.

Some news sites mistook this response for a message from the actual Streameast service, which further complicated matters. As far as we know, Streameast has not officially commented on White’s comments or the price cuts. Still, they can certainly support Algieri’s suggestion of offering PPV streams for free.