Sportian's Piracy Guard blocks 4,500 illegal streams weekly

Sportian and Lega Serie A have released the results of the first year of their collaboration in deploying Sportian's Piracy Guard services to tackle online sports piracy.

According to recent figures, 59% of people in the United Kingdom reported watching pirated material during the first quarter of 2025. In addition, there have been prosecutions linked to illegal streams of Premier League football matches. The ongoing prevalence of piracy has raised concerns in the sports sector around illegal broadcasting and its financial implications.

Throughout the latest football season, Lega Serie A used Sportian's Piracy Guard technology, which was reported to have detected and blocked over 4,500 piracy attempts each match week. This work was carried out in cooperation with major global technology companies including META, YouTube, and TikTok. The aim has been to reduce illegal distribution and preserve the value of official broadcasting rights.

Sportian's Piracy Guard system utilises real-time monitoring, artificial intelligence-based detection, and human expertise to identify and take down unauthorised streams across social networks, illegal streaming websites, and other channels. The tools behind Piracy Guard were originally developed by LALIGA, in partnership with several other organisations. They have since been expanded by Sportian into a suite of services now utilised by multiple leagues, federations, and content broadcasters in regions worldwide.

Collaboration with global platforms

The ability to act at scale against piracy is strengthened by the relationships that Lega Serie A and Sportian hold with technology platforms. Official partnerships with META, YouTube, and TikTok allow the Piracy Guard team to take down infringing content directly. This approach is intended to enforce and protect broadcast rights on a global basis.

Lega Serie A has a complex and diversified strategy to combat piracy in the most effective ways, leveraging all currently available tools. Through our partnership with Globant Sportian, we've taken further steps to protect the investment of our licensees and ensure fans access matches through legal channels. Piracy remains one of the greatest threats to the sustainability of football, and we consider it part of our responsibility to lead the fightback and protect our sport for future generations," said Luisella Fusco, Media Operations & Broadcast Director at Lega Serie A. 

The challenges around protecting media rights are not unique to Lega Serie A. Sportian's Piracy Guard has been implemented by a number of sports rights holders globally, helping to provide measures such as live content protection, blocking of offending streams, and collecting intelligence on new and evolving piracy tactics.

Ongoing technological response

Pablo lo Giudice, Product Manager for Piracy Guard at Sportian, commented on the developments of the past season and the continued need for vigilance against piracy as it evolves technologically.

As sports piracy becomes more sophisticated, the need for proactive strategies and global collaboration has never been greater. Lega Serie A offers some of the most exciting entertainment in sports, and attempts to steal its IP have been significant, but through this partnership we are staying one step ahead. Italian football gave the world catenaccio - the system of world-class defense - and we're bringing that same energy to keep piracy out of the game," said Pablo lo Giudice. 

Piracy Guard was first introduced within LALIGA's operations in 2014 and has since become a part of the technological infrastructure used by competitions, broadcasters, sports federations, and clubs to manage copyright compliance and digital content protection.

Sportian continues to focus on supporting digital transformation for sports industry organisations, offering a platform that combines artificial intelligence, data, and experience design alongside commercial strategy to meet current challenges in areas such as streaming, digital asset management, and anti-piracy efforts.

The partnership between Lega Serie A and Sportian was initiated in response to the rising scale of online piracy affecting sports content, with the results of the first year's operations forming part of wider efforts in the industry to adapt and respond to new digital threats affecting live sports and their commercial partners.