Mayweather-McGregor Fight to Be Streamed for Free On Snapchat

[Len]

Don't want to pay $89.95 to watch Floyd "Money" Mayweather take on Conor McGregor via Showtime (CBS Corporation
CBS)'s pay-per-view offering this weekend? There is a cheaper alternative for people to tune into the Mayweather–McGregor fight without paying for the live stream: Find someone who is (likely illegally) streaming the fight through a social media platform.

A Twitter Inc user said this week that they will be live streaming the entire fight on Snap Inc 's Snapchat. However, the user will be doing so at great risk to themselves since Showtime is cracking down on illegal streams.

Showtime and HBO (Time Warner Inc) faced a similar situation back in 2015 when Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao. The TV networks were active in taking legal action against several "unauthorized live Internet stream of the coverage in California and elsewhere," Hollywood Reporter noted.

Nevertheless, a lot of boxing and MMA fans want to see the fight and may be able to do so for free by finding a stream on social media — thanks to a piracy policy flaw.

Variety's Andrew Wallenstein commented back in 2015 that it would have been "absurd" for Twitter to crack down on users illegally streaming the Mayweather Pacquiao fight on its platform.

"By the time the compliance occurs the livestream is already over, the company is going to need to figure out a better way to combat piracy on the fly."

Of course, the safest and most legal way to watch the fight this weekend would be to purchase the pay-per-view match or head over to a local dive that has the legal rights to broadcast the match.