Activision Blizzard Media Networks Announces Record Esports Viewership
April 12 2016 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Audiences Set New CS:GO Major Records With 45
Million Hours Watched and Record-Breaking Concurrent Viewership
Activision Blizzard Media Networks, a division of Activision
Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), today announced that Major League
Gaming’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship (CS:GO
Major) set new viewership records during its March 30 – April 3
broadcast from Columbus, Ohio. Audiences generated 71 million video
views,1 watched a record-breaking 45 million hours of live
broadcast2 and set a new record of 1.6 million concurrent viewers3
across OTT, web, mobile and in-game streaming during this year’s
event.
This breaks the previously-reported CS:GO Major record of 34
million hours viewed and 1.3 million concurrent viewers set at the
2015 CS:GO Major in Cologne, Germany.4
“Last year, more than 225 million people watched competitive
gaming, and the passion, engagement and size of this audience only
continues to grow,” said Mike Sepso, Senior Vice President of
Activision Blizzard Media Networks and Major League Gaming (MLG)
co-founder. “As this year’s CS:GO Major numbers show, Activision
Blizzard Media Networks’ commitment to broadcasting premium content
and creating incredible events is resonating with players and fans
around the world.”
With the goal of building on its competitive gaming leadership
and becoming the ESPN of esports, Activision Blizzard announced its
Media Networks Division in October 2015, and recruited former ESPN
CEO Steve Bornstein and MLG co-founder Mike Sepso to serve as the
division’s Chairman and Senior Vice President, respectively.
Activision Blizzard acquired the business of MLG in December 2015
to further its ability to deliver best-in-class fan experiences and
premium broadcast content across games, platforms and
geographies.
This year’s CS:GO Major was the first held in North America,
with the world’s best CS:GO teams competing for a $1 million prize
pool. The historic competition, held at the Nationwide Arena in
Columbus, drew a sold-out crowd of over 10,0005 fans for each of
the three final days of live competition. The Columbus event
concluded on April 3 and peaked with a record 1.6 million
concurrent viewers6 as the Luminosity Gaming team claimed top
honors and the majority of the prize pool. Overall, MLG produced 68
hours of premium content broadcast in 15 languages during the
event.
Counter-Strike competitions have been held globally for the past
16 years, with game developer Valve instituting a CS:GO Major
system in 2014. The Columbus championship is the eighth CS:GO Major
event held since 2013, and the first produced by MLG.
With over 225 million unique viewers, the esports audience is
estimated to be bigger than audiences for many professional sports
leagues. Creating premium content for these audiences will provide
significant opportunities in ticket sales, advertising,
sponsorships, licensing and merchandising. By 2017, esports is
projected to have over 300 million viewers.7
About Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., a member of the S&P 500, is the
world's most successful standalone interactive entertainment
company. We delight over 500 million monthly active users around
the world through franchises including Activision's Call of
Duty®, Destiny and Skylanders®, Blizzard
Entertainment's World of Warcraft®, StarCraft®, Diablo®
and Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft™, and
King's Candy Crush®, Pet Rescue® and Farm
Heroes®. The company is one of the Fortune ʺ100 Best Companies
To Work For®ʺ. Headquartered in Santa Monica,
California, Activision Blizzard has operations throughout
the world, and its games are played in 196 countries. More
information about Activision Blizzard and its products
can be found on the companyʹs
website, www.activisionblizzard.com.
1 Data provided by MLG.tv, Twitch and GOTV2 Data provided by
MLG.tv, Mars.tv, Twitch and GOTV3 Data provided by MLG.tv, Twitch
and GOTV4 ESL Press Release5 Ticketmaster6 Data provided by MLG.tv,
Twitch, and GOTV7 NewZoo
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412005434/en/
Director, Communications for Activision Blizzard Media
NetworksBruce Dugan, 646-406-2993Bdugan@MLG.tv
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