Why Reddit banned NFLStreams, the subreddit that showed free live NFL games

A go-to destination for NFL fans on Sunday was the NFLStreams subreddit on Reddit.

The subreddit featured links to streams of every NFL game, as well as RedZone from both NFL Network and DIRECTV. It was the perfect place for cord-cutters, or fans of NFL teams that weren't playing locally on television. However, if you're going there in 2020 in hopes of finding streams, you're going to be disappointed.

As soon as you enter in the subreddit in your browser, you're met with a message: "r/nflstreams has been banned from Reddit. This subreddit has been banned for violations of Reddit’s Copyright Repeat Infringement Policy."

MORE: How to live stream NFL games for free in 2020

If you're a fan of other sports, then this probably isn't a surprise to you. Reddit has been cracking down on the streaming subreddits, shutting down favorites such as /r/NBAStreams and /r/SoccerStreams.

We reached out to Reddit when NBAStreams was shut down, but the company declined a public statement. However, the company did direct us to its Transparency Report. Reddit's 2019 Transparency Report really highlights just how much they ramped up copyright removals.

From the report:

In 2019, Reddit received 34,989 copyright notices, which resulted in 170,684 pieces of content being reviewed, and 124,257 content removals. In 2018, Reddit received 9,534 copyright notices, which resulted in 26,234 content removals. In 2017, Reddit received 3,130 copyright notices, which resulted in 4,352 content removals.

The content Reddit removed for copyright infringement in 2019 amounted to around a 500% increase from the 26,234 pieces of content removed in 2018, and increased by over 2000% from the 4,352 pieces of content removed in 2017.

In a previous Transparency Report, Reddit said in 2016 it received 1,155 DMCA notices, which resulted in 610 content removals. That's much, much lower than 2019's 34,989 copyright notices, resulting in 124,257 content removals.

So the answer as to why Reddit has been shutting down these streaming subreddits is pretty clear. They were never asked to shut them down in previous years, but as the leagues and networks found out what was happening, Reddit was basically forced to take action based on their own policy.

Our policy is to close the accounts of users, in appropriate circumstances, who have repeatedly been charged with copyright infringement. Sometimes a repeat infringement problem is limited to one user and we close just that user’s account. Other times, the problem pervades a whole subreddit community and we close the subreddit.

NFLStreams is gone, so how can I watch NFL games now?

There are still a few ways you can watch live streams of NFL games. There's obviously the cable route, but if you were looking at NFLStreams then that's probably a no-go. However, a few companies air NFL games and offer free trials. Those companies include fuboTV, AT&T TV Now, Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. 

A full breakdown can be viewed below.