Pirated Sports Streams Are Warping TV's Most Important Ratings | AdExchanger

Illicit livestream sports services distribute unauthorized streams of high-profile events to hundreds of thousands of devices. A single Super Bowl stream on NBCU’s Peacock was observed reaching more than 100,000 devices, alongside more than 100 other sites redistributing the same game. Broadcasters and streamers pay heavily for sports rights, while sponsors rely on ratings for attribution. Estimating total missed audience from illegal streams is difficult because viewers may be watching in groups, alone, or in venues without the proper subscription. Conservative estimates suggest Super Bowl ratings could be off by one to two million viewers. The same redistribution pattern appears across major streaming platforms, not only Peacock.

"Illicit livestream sports services, such as WatchSports and StreamSports99, are distributing unauthorized individual streams of high-profile sporting events to hundreds of thousands of devices in some cases. In one example, Adalytics observed a single individual stream of the Super Bowl on NBCU's Peacock distributed to more than 100,000 devices. That was just one of more than 100 other sites redistributing livestreams of the game as well."

"Streamers and traditional broadcasters spend immensely to procure the rights to games - everything from the Olympics to the regular NFL season. Brand sponsors, in turn, want attribution for their investment. The whole system relies on ratings. And this is where it starts to get very hairy."

"To estimate the total missed audience that watched illegal streams of sporting events is practically impossible. Were the viewers hosting parties? Watching alone? Working at a bar or restaurant when they realized they didn't have the right subscription and decided to pirate? With this in mind, the Super Bowl's ratings were likely off by somewhere between one and two million total viewers, and that's being conservative."

"Adalytics focused on Peacock in its report because NBCU hosted both the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in Milan this year, both events that generate outsized demand. But it observed the same practice playing out across every major streaming platform."

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