Stegawave launches anti-piracy platform for live sports streaming

Stegawave has launched an anti-piracy platform aimed at live sports streaming.

The platform uses a proprietary watermarking algorithm to embed invisible patterns into live streams, enabling the identification of piracy sources in real time. This allows illegal redistribution to be shut down within minutes of detection.

The platform integrates with existing streaming workflows and distribution systems without requiring changes to a content owner’s infrastructure. Customers can also choose to push alternative content or messaging to illegal stream destinations.

Live sports piracy causes significant financial losses to the global broadcasting industry. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates the impact on the U.S. economy at more than $29 billion annually. Illegal IPTV services, often called “dodgy boxes,” restream content shortly after broadcast. Existing content protection technologies struggle to identify the source of leaks. Smaller and mid-tier organizations face proportionally greater financial risks, as lost subscribers threaten the viability of grassroots and regional sports coverage.

Stegawave’s announcement follows a deployment with Clubber TV, a live sports platform. The technology was used across live broadcasts to detect pirated streams and identify the subscriber accounts responsible. Stegawave reported a 100% detection rate across all streams. Because many illegal IPTV services share the same source account, blocking a single compromised account disabled multiple pirate streams simultaneously.

Jimmy Doyle, CEO of Clubber, said piracy is a significant threat to sports broadcasting sustainability at all levels. He added that the technology helps ensure fans watch Clubber games only on the official platform following rights fee investments.

Sean Fahey, CEO of Stegawave, said working with Clubber helped improve the product and add new features. He noted an increase in illegal streaming worldwide and said the company aims to support sports rights holders and broadcasters globally in recovering lost revenue and protecting content.

Stegawave’s platform is now available to streaming platforms, sports broadcasters, and rights holders seeking to protect premium content and maximize pay-per-view and subscription revenues.

The company will present the platform at NAB Show in Las Vegas from April 18 to 22, 2026.