The sports media giant, ESPN, launched an eSports dedicated vertical on their website this Thursday.
I'm thrilled to announce the launch of the one and only ESPN of esports: ESPN. Welcome to @ESPN_Esports. pic.twitter.com/j6cNrzxyV6
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) January 14, 2016
Competitive video gaming is getting harder to ignore in recent years, with major investors such as Mark Cuban and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick taking big steps in helping the sport grow. However, the involvement of the largest sports network in the world will only add to the hype train as Chad Millman, editor-in-chief of ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine pointed out to the LA Times.
“The storyline was so compelling that we decided there was no reason we shouldn’t be doing this on a daily basis with the same rigor we cover the National League Football or other sports.”
ESPN has staffed a strong team to lead their coverage, including Darin Kwilinski from Azubu and Rod Breslau and Tyler Erzberger from eSports website TheScore. These correspondents are also going to be making regular appearances in “SportsCenter” and other ESPN shows, despite the initial eSports coverage being focused online.
With Amazon’s recent purchase of game streaming service Twitch.tv and Activision partnering to make MLG.tv, it seems that we are poised for a real battle for eSports coverage supremacy in the near future.
Thanks to #millennial men, #eSports will make $500M in 2016 https://t.co/pLIl4qSBJl via @CBCNews #videogaming
— Craig Milroy (@CraigMilroy) January 14, 2016
ESPN has just launched their first #esports dedicated vertical @ESPN_Esports https://t.co/ybxlle6bvx @BlastMagazine https://t.co/uqH1nj2mP7
#Twitch #Stream #Gamers on Google News: ESPN to begin aggressive coverage of eSports leagues – Blast https://t.co/x22uaTMj7P