ESforce Holding company RuHub has acquired the Russian broadcasting rights to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league FLASHPOINT.
The inaugural season of the team-owned league will kick off in March 13th at the company’s studio in Los Angeles.
RELATED: FunPlus Phoenix welcomed as founding team of FLASHPOINT
FLASHPOINT will broadcast action on both Twitch and YouTube, though this is the first instance of a media rights deal to be announced for the league. RuHub will broadcast the league on its Twitch channel.
Following concerns surrounding the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, FLASHPOINT cancelled plans to host the playoffs in Stockholm and opted to host the entirety of the competition in its Los Angeles studio. The event will run from March 13th to April 19th, with a total prize pool of $1 million (£785,945) up for grabs.
RELATED: Team Envy buys into FLASHPOINT league
FunPlus Phoenix was just announced as the eighth founding team of the league, joining Team Envy, Immortals Gaming Club (owner of MIBR), OverActive Media (owner of MAD Lions), Cloud9, Gen.G, Dignitas, and c0ntact Gaming.
In 2020, tournament organisers have been more proactive about selling media rights to CS:GO leagues. ESL has sold the rights to its Pro League to TV2 Denmark, Maincast, ProSiebenSat.1, and Telia for Denmark, CIS, DACH, and Finland, respectively. DAZN acquired the Brazilian broadcast rights to BLAST Premier in February.
Esports Insider says: It’s promising to see all three major CS:GO tournament organisers actively increasing the monetisation of their events through media right deals such as this. As long as they’re being acquired for a reasonable amount of money, we hope this trend continues.