The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the anti-piracy coalition, in coordination with sports streaming platform DAZN, has successfully shut down Calcio, an illicit live sports streaming website, following a coordinated investigation led by ACE and in collaboration with DAZN’s anti-piracy team. The Moldova-based operator of the service agreed to cease operations after being approached.

Calcio drew more than 123 million visits in the past 12 months across 134 domains. With over 6 million monthly visits from Italy alone, it was the most popular sports streaming website in the country.

The service provided unauthorised access to premium sports content including top European football leagues such as Serie A, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1; UEFA club competitions including Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League; international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup and Euro tournaments; basketball leagues including the NBA; motorsports including Formula 1 and Moto GP; Grand Slam tennis and more.

“Shutting down illegal operations like Calcio is vital for protecting fans, safeguarding jobs, and preserving the value and integrity of live sports,” said Ed McCarthy, COO of DAZN Group. “ACE and DAZN’s decisive action in removing this site has prevented further harm to the well-being of the sports ecosystem.”

Eighty per cent of the traffic came from Italy, with smaller percentages originating from Spain, the US, Germany, and France.

“Piracy diminishes the commercial value of a live sports broadcast well before the final whistle blows, harming broadcasters, sports leagues, and fans alike,” added Larissa Knapp, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer for the Motion Picture Association (MPA). “With the start of the Italian football season, I commend the team for the timely takedown of this notorious operation.”

All Calcio domains have been transferred to ACE and are now redirected to ACE’s Watch Legally site.

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Categories: Articles, Content, Piracy

Tags: ACE, dazn, f1, piracy, premier league