Today the Overwatch League™ and Twitch have finally announced a media-rights partnership for Overwatch, which will see every match of the city-based league broadcast on the platform. The first season gets underway tomorrow.
The two-year deal will see the entirety of the first two seasons broadcast across the world, except China. Twitch is the exclusive partner for the regular-season, playoffs and also championship matches and streams will be available in English, Korean and French.
The release teases Overwatch League “Cheermotes” as well as additional rewards for the “biggest fans” and unique Overwatch League in-game items for the league’s most “steadfast viewers”. One would assume the Cheermotes will work in a similar fashion to the system that Blizzard and Twitch have already used in Heroes of the Storm. It is not yet announced as to when these features will be available.
“Our fans love to engage with content on Twitch, and we wanted to drive significant viewership of the Overwatch League in its inaugural season and beyond,” said Armin Zerza, COO of Blizzard Entertainment. “That’s why this historic and ground-breaking partnership is perfectly suited for Activision Blizzard, for Twitch, and—most importantly—for our growing global fanbase.”
“The Overwatch League is making a major impact on esports by reshaping the industry with city-based teams,” said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. “Given Overwatch’s consistent reign as a top viewed game by our community, we look forward to offering their pioneering style of league play to a large and passionate fanbase that will be able to bond over not only their favorite plays, but hometown pride.”
Esports Insider says: It almost feels typical of the Overwatch League that we’ve got to the day before the first match before having any idea of where we can watch it. There have long been murmurs that Twitch would be the chosen destination and so it’s the case. The streaming platform already has the rights to all of Blizzard’s other esports titles so this is yet another piece of good news. Now to wait and see how the OWL turns out.