German television channel Sport1 has signed a two-year licensing deal with ESL to provide coverage of its events on eSports1.
The esports-specific channel will air ESL’s League of Legends, Dota 2, and Clash Royale events after launching on January 24th.
Daniel von Busse, COO of TV at Sport1 said the following in a statement: “Together with our strong partner ESL, we will now stage high-class ESL events on eSPORTS1 with the” Red Bull MEO powered by ESL “after several successful free TV broadcasts ‘In Dortmund, we will be broadcasting the first major event on German soil live on our new channel at the beginning of February, and through cooperation with the DFL and ESL, viewers at eSPORTS1 will be able to see numerous events of the most important eSports titles – including League of Legends, Dota 2 and FIFA 19.”
eSports1 will be available across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Included in its programming is every ESL One Dota 2 event, including ESL One Katowice (February 22nd-24th), ESL One Mumbai (April 19th-21st), and ESL One Birmingham (May 31st – July 2nd). Other events that will receive coverage on the channel are the European Masters and Red Bull MEO powered by ESL.
Torsten Haux, VP of Global Media Rights & ESportsTV at ESL also commented: “We are very pleased to continue to expand our pioneering partnership with Sport1. As the rollout of our previous tournaments has rapidly gained in popularity, extending the existing collaboration has been the next logical step, and we particularly want to provide the Dota 2 community with another platform to follow our international tournaments.”
Esports Insider says: Adding a number of ESL’s events to the programming of an esports-dedicated TV channel is a promising start, that’s for sure. The expansion of the partnership between Sport1 and ESL indicates that they’re both happy with their past collaborative work so this seems like solid progression and perhaps the start of a great experience for DACH esports fans.