The evolution of content distribution has been both a boon and a bane for the entertainment industry. From physical formats like CDs and DVDs to digital streaming over satellite, fiber-optic networks, 5G, and Wi-Fi, the rapid technological advancements have brought unmatched convenience to viewers. The shift feels seamless: connect a smart TV to Wi-Fi, and the days of waiting for the cable guy are over.
For television show producers, however, the transition has come at a steep cost.
Take, for instance, the creators and distributors of movies and live premium events. They have seen their revenue streams severely impacted—not immediately but gradually—as digital platforms opened doors to new vulnerabilities. In the past, the model was straightforward: Install a satellite dish, pay a subscription, and gain access to live sports and Hollywood movies.
Today, it's a different story.
Consumers can share Wi-Fi costs with neighbors or, worse, bypass paywalls entirely by typing “watch UFC live for free” into a search engine. Within seconds, dozens of links appear, granting free access to what should have been an $80 pay-per-view event. Let’s look at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a massively profitable martial arts promotion company. Despite its financial success, it is losing a significant amount of revenue to piracy. UFC CEO Dana White has repeatedly highlighted the massive challenges piracy creates, often calling out illegal streaming platforms and warning of legal action.
Yet pirates just laugh and openly mock these threats. One even tweeted in response to White: “Come and get it then, Dana. He’s desperate, making up lies and praying it scares away a few hundred people from clicking the link.”
The challenges for content creators like the UFC are twofold.
First, the market for pirated streams thrives because many fans either cannot or will not pay for legitimate access. Studies show that about 11 percent of U.S. adults admit to pirating live sports, TV, or movies, citing high costs as the primary reason. For millennials, the percentage climbs even higher, with nearly two-thirds acknowledging they’ve watched sports through unofficial streams.
This behavior has real economic consequences. The Harvard Business Review estimates that piracy costs the global sports industry approximately $28 billion annually. The losses trickle down in ways many consumers don’t consider. Players, for example, have collective bargaining agreements that tie salaries to league revenues. When TV revenue declines due to piracy, salary caps tighten, directly impacting athlete earnings. It’s not just high-profile athletes who suffer; ordinary Americans employed by league media arms or regional sports networks also face layoffs when subscription and advertising revenue drops. The perception that piracy is a victimless crime ignores these broader realities.
The second challenge lies in outdated copyright laws.
The U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 places the burden of enforcement on content creators. This notice-and-takedown system requires creators to identify infringements and report them to online service providers (OSPs), who are then expected to act “expeditiously.” But the definition of “expeditiously” is vague and varies by case. UFC executive vice president Riché T. McKnight testified before Congress in 2023 that some OSPs take hours or even days to remove pirated content. By that time, the economic damage is done.
Failing to combat piracy risks losing an entire continent of viewers.
This stark reality underscores the urgent need for innovative approaches to intellectual property rights and content distribution. The Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, boasts a rich history of martial arts and warrior traditions deeply embedded in its cultural identity. Combat sports such as wrestling and grappling have longstanding roots in the region, with practices like Koshti Pahlavani and Yagli Gures exemplifying traditions of martial honor and prowess. In Saudi Arabia, these practices often intertwine with Islamic values, framing martial arts as both physical disciplines and pathways to spiritual and personal development, frequently influenced by Sufi teachings.
It’s no surprise, then, that combat sports have a significant audience in the Middle East. But while people in the region enjoy watching martial arts on television, the question remains: are they willing to pay for it?
In April 2024, the UFC partnered with Starzplay to secure exclusive broadcasting rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Starzplay’s dedicated UFC channel promised comprehensive access to UFC content through its mobile application. Yet, did this strategic move meet expectations?
The results suggest otherwise. Starzplay’s subscriber base remains modest at 2.9 million. By comparison, ESPN+ boasts 25.6 million subscribers, while Amazon Prime has reached a staggering 200 million. To put it bluntly, the initiative fell far short of expectations.
The root of the issue lies in entrenched habits and a lack of a robust culture surrounding intellectual property rights. Changing the way viewers consume content requires more than exclusive deals; it demands a concerted effort to foster respect for legal streaming. Only a new culture of intellectual property management can transform these habits.
Growth metrics for platforms like Starzplay will remain stagnant unless legal frameworks, technological innovation, and skilled IP professionals converge to reshape the landscape of content distribution in the region. Conventional business models in sports and premium television inadvertently facilitate content leakage, especially during live sports broadcasts. Current security measures, such as fingerprinting or watermarking technologies, are ineffective. It could be argued that within the context of news media distribution, video streaming represents a vital aspect of critical infrastructure, making it susceptible to malicious software attacks. In one example where the FBI disarmed a malware called Emotet, the agency explained how the malware worked: Usually delivered through an infected email attachment or link, the nimble and ever mutating code was able to slip past most virus detection software."
The concept of "appointment viewing"—television programming that individuals prioritize to watch during its original broadcast time due to a strong desire to witness events within the specified timeframe—exposes live sports content to significant risks of intellectual property (IP) rights violations. Sports leagues and media conglomerates stand to lose substantial audiences within minutes. This is due to the brief time it takes for viewers to search for alternative, unauthorized, free, or very cheap streams to watch live games or UFC fights. Preventing such leaks is time-critical, as audience interest rapidly declines once a live event concludes. Content is particularly vulnerable to unauthorized live redistribution while a sporting event is in progress.
Is the centralization of video distribution the problem here? In traditional a video streaming platform, where one of the users pays for using the platform nothing stops that person to redistribute that televised live sport event.
With the help of blockchain, the issue of ownership can be addressed at a protocol level. Blockchain helps the creators and the audience encrypt their videos and store those videos permanently using the IPFS swarm. Blockchain broadcasts the live sporting event in an autonomous manner with the help of various relay nodes and IPFS, thereby maintaining transparency and integrity of ownership in a decentralized way. It echoes overall U.S. government strategy. The United States acknowledges the potential inherent in the modernization of its cryptographic technologies, which shall now encompass blockchain technology and its capacity to augment security and transparency. As the Biden administration explained in 2023, “digital connectivity should be a tool that uplifts and empowers people everywhere, not one used for repression and coercion.”
Per the National Cybersecurity Strategy, “new and updated cybersecurity regulations must be calibrated to meet the needs of national security and public safety, in addition to the security and safety of individuals, regulated entities, and their employees, customers, operations, and data.”
Implementing blockchain technology will inevitably help sport broadcasting giants grow subscription numbers. Once a streaming sporting event is “live,” the blocks, which are stored on a multitude of servers throughout the world, cannot be changed. As a result, sports leagues and producers of the live broadcasts will have total control over their work. Blockchain-based television streaming systems is a new generation of digital infrastructure that offer transparency through decentralization, allowing participating parties to verify data and transactions and avoid harmful cyber incidents. It is an example of “sector-specific engagement with industry to construct consistent, predictable regulatory frameworks for cybersecurity that focus on achieving security outcomes and enabling continuity of operations and functions, while promoting collaboration and innovation.” Put simply, it is a matter of national interest.
The journey of the UFC in the Middle East illustrates the importance of live streaming in a region where cultural appreciation for combat sports runs deep. With smart TVs becoming increasingly accessible—not just in developed nations but globally—the potential audience for live sports is enormous.
We stand at a crossroads. One path leads to chaos—a world where video pirates evolve into organized crime syndicates, dominating the streaming landscape. The other path offers a vision of fairness and innovation: a distributed network governed by blockchain technology, fostering harmony between creators and consumers.
