The investigation was conducted in coordination with police in Hung Yen province.

Authorities said the network operated systematically, involving many participants and disguising its activities under the cover of technology companies.

The Xoi Lac TV system illegally streamed and rebroadcast sports content owned by legitimate rights holders. The website also embedded advertising and links that directed viewers to gambling platforms.

Investigators say these activities negatively affected public order and social safety while infringing on the legal rights and interests of organizations and individuals.

The financial damage caused by copyright violations is still being assessed by specialized agencies. Because the case involves complex data flows and multiple intermediaries, authorities say the full scale of the losses will only be announced once the evaluation is completed.

Colonel Nguyen Huy Luc, head of Division 5 of A05, said the investigation also led to additional charges of distributing obscene materials.

According to him, the masterminds behind the Xoi Lac TV system used specialized equipment to capture and retransmit football matches and other sports events through OTT and satellite signals.

The streams were then combined with advertising for football betting, allowing the network to generate illicit profits worth hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong.

The total revenue figure remains incomplete and continues to be investigated. So far, authorities have frozen and traced assets worth around VND300 billion (approximately US$12 million), most of them held in cryptocurrencies.

Investigators said the network operated in a highly sophisticated manner. Key operators frequently changed their locations and servers to make tracking more difficult.

The group built an organized production system with commentary rooms and modern broadcasting equipment.

After years of investigation, A05 and Hung Yen police dismantled the entire network, arresting its leaders, administrators and individuals responsible for scripting, technical operations and system management.

Several commentators associated with the channel were also detained, including those using nicknames such as “Nguoi Doi”, “Batman” and “Nguoi Rom”.

Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Hieu, deputy head of the Criminal Police Division of Hung Yen province, said many participants in the network were young people with strong technical backgrounds.

During searches, investigators found that several suspects held bachelor’s or master’s degrees and possessed significant knowledge of technology.

According to police, the leaders recruited young employees and divided tasks across separate roles so that each person only knew their own responsibilities without understanding the entire system.

From piracy platform to gambling ecosystem

Xoi Lac TV first appeared around 2016 as a website offering free live streams of major international football tournaments.

The platform quickly became popular among Vietnamese football fans because it allowed viewers to watch matches online without paying subscription fees.

Unlike traditional television broadcasts, the streams were accessible from smartphones or laptops with just an Internet connection.

The website also developed a distinctive commentary style, often using informal language and humorous interactions that appealed to younger audiences.

At the same time, the platform gradually built an ecosystem that redirected viewers to football betting and online gambling platforms.

Industry observers say this model allowed the operators to avoid charging viewers directly while generating substantial revenue from gambling-related advertising and referrals.

The rise of illegal streaming sites also reshaped Vietnam’s sports broadcasting landscape.

For many years, pay-TV service K+ had held exclusive broadcasting rights to major football tournaments such as the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and La Liga.

When television remained the dominant viewing platform, this strategy gave the company a strong position in the sports broadcasting market.

However, the rapid spread of high-speed Internet and smartphones in Vietnam during the mid-2010s changed viewing habits.

More viewers began watching matches online rather than through traditional television subscriptions.

Free streaming sites such as Xoi Lac TV quickly gained popularity because they offered immediate access to matches without subscription costs.

The convenience and accessibility made them particularly attractive to younger viewers or casual fans who did not want to pay for full television packages.

According to a media industry expert who spoke with VietNamNet, piracy sites like Xoi Lac TV did not earn money from viewers directly but instead profited through online betting and gambling systems.

“If you look at the flow of money into football betting accounts during major tournaments such as the Premier League, you will see that the amount of money Vietnamese users spend on online gambling is enormous,” the expert said.

Although broadcasters and authorities have repeatedly attempted to shut down piracy sites, enforcement has remained difficult.

Many platforms use distributed systems, overseas servers and constantly changing domain names, making them hard to track and block.

Even when a website is shut down, new versions often appear quickly under different addresses.

The struggle between copyright holders and illegal streaming platforms has therefore become a constant technological “cat-and-mouse” game.

The case of Xoi Lac TV reflects a broader challenge facing the digital content industry.

From sports broadcasting and film to music and online publishing, producers investing heavily in original content often struggle against the widespread availability of free pirated material.

By the end of 2025, the pay-TV service K+ had withdrawn from the Vietnamese market, leaving behind a striking example of how the Internet can transform an entire media sector in just a few years.

Dinh Hieu - Thai Khang