“Collectively, the domains targeted in the operation generated more than 950 million visits worldwide each year, including approximately 230 million visits from Mexico alone,” the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) said in its announcement.
Who acted: ACE, UEFA, UC3 and Mexican authorities
The takedown targeted 44 domains operated as part of the PirloTV network and was carried out through a coordinated effort that ACE described as involving UEFA, UC3, and Mexican authorities. ACE framed the move as a cross-border operation that combined rights holders and public agencies to dismantle the domain infrastructure used to distribute links to unauthorized live sports streams.
What PirloTV is and how it operates
According to the announcement, PirloTV is a network of websites that aggregate and embed links to unauthorized live sports streams rather than streaming content directly. The platform reproduces feeds from a variety of licensed broadcasters depending on the event, and is particularly noted for its rapid domain migration after takedowns. That resilience — moving quickly to new domains — is an operational trait ACE highlighted as central to the network’s persistence.
Scale: 44 seized domains, 950 million visits per year
ACE reported that the 44 domains collectively generated more than 950 million visits annually, with about 230 million of those visits coming from Mexico. The group said the service primarily targeted viewers throughout Latin America — with especially strong audiences in Mexico and Colombia — while also attracting meaningful traffic from Spain and the United States.
Timing and context: Champions League final and World Cup 2026
ACE noted the action took place ahead of the UEFA Champions League final on May 30. Spanish media, cited in the account, reported that PirloTV is heavily used by people seeking to watch World Cup 2026 matches on mobile phones, a behavior the reports link to the segmentation of broadcasting rights and platform-related access restrictions. ACE also pointed to the potential impact of taking down PirloTV domains on the broader piracy ecosystem in Latin America while the World Cup is under way.
Persistence and the remaining footprint
Despite the domain seizures, the announcement and reporting make clear the network is capable of rapid pivots: at the time of writing, public search engines still indexed domains that provide illegal streaming for sports events. Some of those remaining domains offer multiple live streams from more than a dozen channels, the source says, listing broadcasters such as ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT Sports, DSports (formerly DirecTV Sports) and TyC Sports among the channels reproduced on pirate links.
How UEFA, IMPI and viewers are positioned
- UEFA: The source notes UEFA became the first holder of sports rights to join ACE in October 2025 and has since worked with ACE to identify operators, map piracy networks, investigate infrastructure and coordinate with local law enforcement to dismantle backend services. This takedown was presented as part of that collaboration.
- Mexico’s Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI): ACE described the action as its first collaboration with IMPI under a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding aimed at strengthening anti-piracy cooperation, signaling a formalized national-level partnership for future enforcement.
- Viewers and mobile audiences: Spanish media reporting, cited by ACE, connects PirloTV’s prevalence to demand from mobile viewers during World Cup 2026, where fragmented broadcasting rights and platform restrictions complicate lawful mobile access and appear to sustain demand for unauthorized streams.
The seizure of 44 domains is a clear procedural win for rights holders and enforcement partners — it interrupts a high-traffic network at a busy moment in the sports calendar. But the same sources that reported the takedown also note the underlying problem: PirloTV’s model relies on link aggregation and domain agility, leaving room for rapid reappearance. The collaboration with IMPI and UEFA’s membership of ACE mark procedural changes in enforcement, yet whether those tools will convert short-term domain removals into long-term disruption of viewing habits remains an open, factual question raised by the operation itself.
Read the original report: PirloTV sports piracy network disrupted as 44 domains seized — BleepingComputer
