📰🏟️ StreamEast prison terms
Plus: Most-watched soccer telecast ever…
Good afternoon. Today’s edition brings you the top news from around the sports world. Let’s get right to it.
—Kyle
1) World Cup final tops 60M US viewers
Sunday's World Cup final—won by Spain 1-0 over Argentina—drew 62.8M US viewers, making it the most-watched World Cup final and soccer telecast in American history.
- That figure, spread across Fox (~39M) and Telemundo (~24M), is ~143% higher than the 2022 World Cup final, which drew 25.8M combined US viewers.
- It’s also more than all other US telecasts in the past year outside of Super Bowl LX (125.6M), outpacing even the AFC/NFC Championship Games (46M-48M apiece).
Soccer reaches new heights in America
2) Yordan Alvarez on pace for rare Triple Crown
With roughly ⅔ of the MLB season in the books, Astros 1B Yordan Alvarez is on pace to become the MLB’s second Triple Crown winner since 1967, after the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
- Alvarez currently leads the AL by a significant margin across all three categories: batting average (.326; next highest .314), HRs (33; vs. 29) and RBIs (75; next highest 68).
- He’s also in the running for an even more exclusive club: of the 13 modern-era Triple Crown winners, just 5 have led the entire MLB in those categories, with Alvarez either leading or just shy in all 3.
🌐 WEB GEMS
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3) StreamEast illegal streamers land in prison
Two Egyptian nationals—a medical doctor and engineer—were sentenced to 2 years in Egyptian prison yesterday for running an unauthorized offshoot of the StreamEast sports piracy platform.
- Their operation reportedly spanned 120+ domains, drew 1.6 billion viewers, and earned ~$10.2M in ad revenue over the span of a year.
- StreamEast has become the largest “piracy brand” in the illegal sports streaming world, even after US authorities shut down its main site in 2024.
- Today, dozens of copycat StreamEast sites provide free video streaming for the NFL, MLB, NBA, Premier League, UFC, etc.
How the StreamEast pirates were captured
4) Curry is first active NBA player with HoF exhibit
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is launching a new exhibit this weekend dedicated to star Stephen Curry, who’s entering his 18th season with the Golden State Warriors.
- It’s the first time in the Basketball HoF’s nearly 75-year history that an active player will receive a dedicated exhibit, titled "Stephen Curry: Beyond the Arc."
- Visitors will go on a “captivating, curated journey” through Curry’s life, from an overlooked college prospect to 2x NBA MVP and 4x NBA champ.
- The exhibit will also feature game-worn gear, championship artifacts, and archival footage.
Steph breaks the NBA once again
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