Live streaming apps illegally broadcast Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

MAYWEATHER might have won the fight, but the internet was the real winner, with thousands of people managing to stream the bout illegally.

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 02: Floyd Mayweather Jr. sits in his corner between rounds against Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight unification championship bout on May 2, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

LAST week it was announced Mayweather and Pacquiao’s promotional outfits had joined forces with Showtime Networks and HBO to stop piracy of yesterday’s pay-per-view fight.

Despite managing to shut down a number of sites advertising free streams, they soon realised you can’t beat the internet.

With popular streaming sites out of the question, many fight fans quickly learnt the bout was being illegally broadcast on live streaming apps Periscope and Meerkat.

What made those sites more attractive to fans was that US pay-per-view broadcasters Time Warner Cable, Comcast, DirecTV and Charter all suffered outages before the bout, meaning potential paying customers were forced to illegally stream the fight.

Even though the smartphone and tablet footage was pixilated and shaky, it was sufficient for the hundreds of thousands of fight fans who tuned into the illegal feeds.

Thanks to #Periscope users who shared #MayPac. As interested in how they'd handle it as I was the fight. Unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/lrcUdYP1Fl

— Sarah Eaglesfield (@zenxv) May 3, 2015

While Meerkat’s streams disappeared when the recording finished, Periscope’s streams are accessible for 24 hours after the event, giving people the option to watch the fight in their own time.

Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo took to the social media platform after the fight declaring the Twitter acquired Periscope app as the real winner.

And the winner is... @periscopeco

— dick costolo (@dickc) May 3, 2015

This isn’t the first time Periscope has been on HBO’s radar, with the live-streaming app being issued take-down notices last month after becoming a source for people to illegally view Game of Thrones.

Ironically, HBO had used Periscope earlier in the evening to stream from inside Manny Pacquiao’s dressing room.

LIVE on #Periscope: Inside @MannyPacquiao room #MayPac LIVE now https://t.co/SQ0MiQEP7y

— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) May 3, 2015