ESL Gaming and SPORT1 expand partnership with pan-European esports channel
ESL, the world’s largest esports company, today extended their partnership with SPORT1, the leading German sports platform. The agreement will see some of the biggest ESL and DreamHack tournaments streamed regularly and live on SPORT1’s newly-created pan-European linear esports channel, eSportsONE, starting from November 3rd 2020 with ESL as central content partner for the region.
The deal announcement will see the broadcast of world-class Dota 2 tournaments, the StarCraft II ProTour, and the WarCraft III Pro Tour, live on eSportsONE. Previously, eSPORTS1 had been available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland only, having become the country’s first esports channel back in January 2019.
As part of the deal, SPORT1 has been confirmed as the exclusive linear TV partner of ESL Dota tournaments, as well as the StarCraft II and WarCraft III ESL Pro Tour in Germany. Further titles will include „NBA 2K“ and „Rocket League“.
The channel will feature a mixture of live reporting from global tournaments as well as exclusive, original produced analysis formats, therefore accounting for over 1,000 broadcast hours showing top-class international esports tournaments per year.
“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,” said Frank Uddo, Senior Vice President Global Media at ESL. “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.”
Olaf Schröder, CEO of Sport1 Medien AG and Chairman of the Management Board of Sport1 GmbH commented: “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.“