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Free Live Streams For The McGregor Vs. Mayweather Fight: Free Links Can Be Found, But Come With A Big Warning

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 12:32 PST, Aug 26, 2017

If you’re looking for a free stream of the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight, there are likely plenty of options — but it could come at an unexpected price.

Streaming video sites are advertising free online video of the fight that otherwise costs close to $100 to watch on pay-per-view, and the Independent reported that it is expected to be the most pirated fight in boxing history. But Showtime has been trying to put a stop to that, the report noted, taking measures throughout the week to find and shut down what will be illegal streams.

Showtime actually took legal action against some of the sites offering streams of the McGregor vs. Mayweather fight, the Independent noted. This is not the first time that one of Floyd Mayweather’s fights have prompted such unusual action, the report added.

“Such pre-emptive strikes are very rare, but are useful as a way of dealing with big sporting events – and was seen in previous instances like the Mayweather v Pacquiao fight. It is necessary to try and take down copyright infringement before it happens because such events are primarily made available live, meaning that there can be little time to stop such piracy happening once the even has actually begun.

“Such takedowns are enabled by a rule in the U.S. Copyright Act that allows content owners to take sites down, only in the special situation that they are being broadcast live. It was written in recognition of the fact that such live events are extremely valuable but that value is destroyed once the event is actually over, since nobody wants to watch a boxing match after it has happened.”

As the Metro noted, the actions will not be able to stop free live streams of the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight from spreading across the internet. The report noted that there will likely be links all over the internet, though they may not show up until minutes before the fight is expected to take place at roughly 12 a.m. ET.

In the hours leading up to the bout, there were streams being offered on a number of European-based streaming sites, and links were spreading across Twitter and Reddit as well.

The Metro noted that the most common places to find free live streams of the McGregor vs. Mayweather fight will be popular streaming video services, like Facebook Live, Periscope, and YouTube Live. The report noted that there is already a YouTube Live link as well as a Facebook Live link for the fight, though these likely will not actually show the fight itself. Instead, they usually offer links in the chat section that take viewers to outside sites.

But viewers should beware, the Express noted. While there are plenty of free live streams available for the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight online, these mostly illegal sites could lead to real-life consequences for viewers. In the U.K., that means facing up to three years in jail for copyright infringement.

[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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