Overwatch League™ and Twitch Sign Landmark Multi-Year Media Rights Deal
January 09 2018 - 12:15PM
Business Wire
Every match from season one and two of the
Overwatch League will be broadcast live on Twitch
Upcoming innovative new viewership reward
system announced for fans who watch and engage with the Overwatch
League on Twitch
Today the Overwatch League™ and social video service Twitch
announced a historic esports media-rights partnership, ensuring
that every match of the world’s first major global city-based
esports league will be readily available to fans across the globe.
The first match of the Overwatch League’s inaugural season goes
live on Twitch this Wednesday, January 10, on
Twitch.tv/overwatchleague.
Fans of professional Overwatch have been eagerly anticipating a
seamless Overwatch League viewing experience. This two-year deal,
which encompasses the entirety of the league’s first two seasons,
makes that a reality. With the exception of China, Twitch will be
the exclusive worldwide third-party digital provider for Overwatch
League regular-season, playoffs, and championship matches, with
streams in English, Korean, and French.
The Overwatch League and Twitch also are developing innovative
rewards for fans, which will bestow the league’s most steadfast
viewers with Overwatch League in-game items. More details about
content and additional rewards for the biggest fans, including some
content that will be exclusive for a period of time, as well as
Cheering with Overwatch League Cheermotes, will be announced as
they become available.
“Our fans love to engage with content on Twitch, and we wanted
to drive significant viewership of the Overwatch League in its
inaugural season and beyond,” said Armin Zerza, COO of Blizzard
Entertainment. “That’s why this historic and ground-breaking
partnership is perfectly suited for Activision Blizzard, for
Twitch, and—most importantly—for our growing global fanbase.”
“The Overwatch League is making a major impact on esports by
reshaping the industry with city-based teams,” said Kevin Lin, COO
of Twitch. “Given Overwatch’s consistent reign as a top-viewed game
by our community, we look forward to offering their pioneering
style of league play to a large and passionate fanbase that will be
able to bond over not only their favorite plays, but hometown
pride.”
The first season of the Overwatch League will run until June,
with playoffs and finals scheduled for July. For the inaugural
season, all games will take place at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, a
state-of-the-art live-event venue in Burbank, California,
custom-renovated for Blizzard Entertainment esports events. Fans
can purchase tickets to attend matches, which will be played each
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. A full schedule and
information about ticket sales can be found at OverwatchLeague.com,
and all matches can be viewed live at Twitch.tv/overwatchleague
(English-language channel), Twitch.tv/overwatchleague_kr
(Korean-language channel), and Twitch.tv/overwatchleague_fr
(French-language channel).
About the Overwatch League™
The Overwatch League™ is the first major global professional
esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North
America. Overwatch® was created by globally acclaimed publisher
Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq:
ATVI)), whose iconic franchises have helped lay the foundations and
push the boundaries of professional esports over the last 15 years.
The latest addition to Blizzard’s stable of twenty-one #1 games,[1]
Overwatch was built from the ground up for online competition, with
memorable characters and fast-paced action designed for the most
engaging gameplay and spectator experiences. To learn more about
the Overwatch League, visit https://overwatchleague.com/.
About Twitch
Twitch is the world’s leading social video service and community
for gamers. Each day, millions of community members gather to
watch, talk, and chat about shared interests. Twitch’s video
service is the backbone of both live and on-demand distribution for
all types of content, including the entire video game ecosystem,
the creative arts, vlogging (IRL), and more. Twitch also runs
TwitchCon, the annual convention for celebrating the Twitch
community. For more information about Twitch, visit our Press
Center, Twitter feed (#Twitch), and Blog.
© 2018 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. OVERWATCH, OVERWATCH LEAGUE,
BLIZZARD and BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT are trademarks of Blizzard
Entertainment, Inc.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking
Statements: Information in this press release that involves
Blizzard Entertainment's expectations, plans, intentions or
strategies regarding the future, including statements about the
dates, events and features of the Overwatch League, are
forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number
of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard
Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially from
those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this
release include unanticipated product delays and other factors
identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s
most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this
release are based upon information available to Blizzard
Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this
release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard
assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when
made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not
guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or
Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause
actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
[1] Sales and/or downloads, based on internal company records
and reports from key distribution partners
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180109006249/en/
Overwatch LeagueMark Van Lommel949-955-1380
x61147MVanLommel@overwatchleague.comorTwitchChase415-810-0995chase@twitch.tv@chasejustchase
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