Showtime had great concerns over the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor pay-per-view being affected by illegal streams.

Last week, the network secured an order which took down over 40 illegal streaming sites. The high price tag of $100 for HD would obviously send a high number of fans to search the internet for alternative options to cut down the cost.

According to a recent report in Forbes, digital platform security company Irdeto estimates that nearly 3 million people watched more than 200 illegal streams.

Irdeto revealed to Forbes that 239 illegal streams were watched by approximately 2,930,598 people: 165 of those were apparently made available through social media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Periscope and Twitch, and 67 were available through illegal streaming sites like Kodi.

The current record for pay-per-view buys Mayweather's fight with Manny Pacquiao, which took place in May 2015. That fight generated 4.6 million buys.

Mayweather stopped McGregor in the tenth round at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The pay-per-view was the most talked about sporting event of the year. Many industry insiders believe the pay-per-view has a the ability to overtake the Mayweather-Pacquiao record, but the early estimates of what the PPV generated will not be available for at least 1 to 2 weeks time.

The fight also grossed $2.4 million in box office at 481 theaters. The PPV is projected to make $500 million in the United States and $700 million worldwide.