Separate product
Ads are not a choice.
They are the bill.
Live video is the most expensive thing in streaming. A source that gives its stream away free pays for that bandwidth by selling the advertising inside it. Remove the ads and someone still has to pay — that is what a restream service is.
* Test keys are issued selectively, not on request alone. They are for teams with a product already running and a plan behind it — tell us what you are building and we will say yes or no quickly.
1. Bandwidth is the cost
Delivering live video at scale dominates the bill. Data is cheap to serve; video is not. Any provider handing you a stream is paying for that, one way or another.
2. Free sources sell ads
A source that charges nothing funds itself from the advertising baked into the stream. That is the trade, and it is why no aggregator can strip it: the ads are the payment.
3. A restream swaps the funding
Pull the stream in, re-encode it, deliver it from infrastructure you pay for. The subscription replaces the advertising, so nothing needs to be injected.
Cheap, but not easy
What you are paying for is delivery, not a content licence. We restream services that are already public and serve them again through infrastructure and bandwidth we run ourselves. That is why the number starts at $500 a month rather than the several thousand the industry usually asks.
Cheap is not the same as simple. Standing this up yourself means running the delivery layer, paying for the bandwidth, and keeping a mapping between fixtures and sources that stays correct while those sources keep moving. The first two are a budget. The third is a job that never finishes, and it is the reason most teams buy this rather than build it.
Infrastructure
Delivery nodes sized for live video, not for JSON. Bandwidth is the bill, and it never pauses.
Mapping
Fixtures matched to sources, continuously. Names differ, schedules move, sources appear and vanish.
Maintenance
Sources change formats and endpoints without notice. Staying compatible is ongoing work, not a one-off build.
Those three are also the answer to “why monthly”. Bandwidth recurs and compatibility work recurs, so the price does too.
Side by side
| SportSRC | SportStreamAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| What you receive | Embed player (iframe) | Raw m3u8 links |
| Ads in the stream | Yes, from the upstream source | None injected |
| Who pays bandwidth | The source, via its ads | You, via the subscription |
| Player and branding | Ours | Yours |
| Match data included | Yes, 14 endpoints | Stream-focused |
| Starts at | $0 (free tier) | from $500 / month |
They are complements, not alternatives: many integrations use SportSRC for schedules, scores and deep match data, and SportStreamAPI for the video.
Enterprise API Key
from $500 / month
- Unlimited API calls and bandwidth
- Full JSON endpoint access
- Raw m3u8 link extraction
- Zero injected ads
- IPTV multiplexer API access
- High-speed restream backend
Pricing and terms are set by SportStreamAPI and shown here for orientation. Check their site for the current offer.
Questions
Why does every standard stream API carry ads?
Because somebody has to pay for the bandwidth. Delivering live video is the single most expensive part of streaming, and a source that gives its stream away free funds it by selling the advertising inside. The ads are the payment. An aggregator that points at those sources inherits them.
Why can a higher SportSRC plan not remove them?
Because the ads are not ours to remove. SportSRC finds and indexes sources published by third parties; the advertising is baked into what those sources serve. Paying us more does not change what someone else encodes.
What exactly is a restream service?
The stream is pulled in, re-encoded and delivered again from infrastructure we pay for. Because the delivery is ours, nothing is injected - and because you pay for the bandwidth directly, there is no advertising needed to fund it.
Why does it start at $500 when competitors charge thousands?
Because you are paying for delivery, not for a content licence. We restream from services that are already public and serve them again through our own infrastructure, so the bill is infrastructure and bandwidth rather than rights. It is far cheaper than the industry norm - but it is not something you could stand up yourself over a weekend.
Why is it a monthly subscription rather than a one-off?
Two running costs. Bandwidth for live video never stops, and sources change constantly - formats, endpoints and availability move, and keeping the feed compatible is continuous work. A subscription pays for both; a one-off would only pay for the first week.
Could I not just build this myself?
In principle. In practice it means running the delivery infrastructure, paying the bandwidth, and maintaining the mapping between fixtures and sources as those sources keep changing. That last part is the one that never finishes, and it is why most teams buy it.
What do I integrate against?
Raw m3u8 links in a JSON payload, not an iframe. You put them in your own player, so the playback surface, the branding and any advertising on it are yours.
Can I test before paying?
A short development key is available on request, but it is not open to everyone. It is meant for teams with a real product and a plan behind it, not for casual trials, so tell us what you are building when you ask.