Tournament organiser ESL has expanded its partnership with German television broadcaster SPORT1.
The expansion will see the broadcaster show major tournaments hosted by ESL and DreamHack on its dedicated esports channel eSportsONE.
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The channel, which launched in January 2019, has been confirmed as an exclusive linear TV partner of all ESL Dota 2 tournaments alongside the StarCraft II and WarCraft III ESL Pro Tour in Germany. Further titles integrated will include NBA 2K and Rocket League.
Frank Uddo, Senior Vice President of Global Media at ESL, spoke on the expansion: “Having seen the success of eSPORTS1 in German-speaking countries, we are excited to join forces with long-term partner SPORT1 for the rollout of the linear channel eSportsONE across Europe. ESL aims to serve the esports community all across Europe, and eSportsONE’s comprehensive and versatile portfolio makes it a great option to view premium esports content.”
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Alongside ESL expanding its partnership with SPORT1, the channel will be rolled out across Europe after being only available in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland previously. The channel will be available across the continent from November 3rd.
Olaf Schröder, CEO of Sport1 Medien AG and Chairman of the Management Board of Sport1 GmbH, also commented on the deal: “We are pioneers and trailblazers in the growth market esports with its great opportunities: At the beginning of 2019, we launched the first esports channel in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with eSPORTS1 – an important milestone with which we have further expanded our positioning as a leading medium in the German-speaking esports community.
“Now we continue our esports success story internationally and are launching a new, ground-breaking project with eSportsONE as a pan-European eSports broadcaster. Our goal: We want to make esports even bigger in Europe in the future beyond the young core target group and to anchor it even more sustainably in society.“
Esports Insider says: After a year of seemingly successful collaboration, it comes as no surprise to see ESL offer more of its tournaments to be shown live on eSportsONE. With the channel rolling out across Europe, the deal is another step forward for esports moving onto mainstream media platforms.