Twitter adds eSports to live-streaming portfolio
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With online video platforms like Twitch, eSports have grown up on the Internet rather than more conventional broadcast platforms.
To further this digital environment for eSports, Twitter just added eSports to their ever-broadening array of live streamed sporting events by hosting a feed of Eleague’s Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournament in Atlanta. Twitter streamed two semifinal matchups, along with a final that held a $1.4 million prize pool. Polish team Virtus Pro took home the biggest chunk of the prize money, $340,000, when they defeated Swedes Fnatic.
The deal is a part of Twitter’s recent move to become the place for numerous live sports streams. They experimented with live streaming sports last year, with one NFL game, and they will be featuring 10 times that amount this upcoming season.
“eSports fans go to Twitter to see and talk about what is happening now in competitive gaming,”Anthony Noto, Twitter’s CFO, said in a statement. “Gamers are one of the largest and most engaged audiences on Twitter, and we are thrilled to partner with Turner and WME-IMG to bring them the live content from Eleague and Twitter commentary they are already looking for, all on one screen.”
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Like many of the deals that Twitter has recently made, they did not win the exclusive streaming rights to this eSports tournament. The Eleague final was also available on TBS and online at Twitch.
Counting this Eleague tournament, Twitter now has live streaming partnerships with nine different sports organizations. Check out our guide to Twitter’s massive log of recent streaming deals here.
With all of this, it seems as if Twitter is attempting to become somewhat of a hub for any sport to be seen live, and adding eSports to their dock is natural for the medium that is often encountered online. This is perhaps the least risky of any partnership they have made to date.
