Activision Blizzard announced last week that it has agreed to a multi-year broadcast rights deal with Disney to televise the Overwatch League across ESPN, ESPN 2, Disney XD, ABC, and all related streaming services.
The Overwatch League (OWL) playoffs are currently underway and the deal includes the rights to broadcast this year’s Grand Finals, set to take place in New York City on Jul. 27-28. All Overwatch League esport competitions will air exclusively on Disney-controlled networks, however fans will continue to be able to watch the Overwatch League on Twitch. The live streaming platform established a two-year, $90 million agreement with the OWL in January.
“Media partners are another very important partner in [the Overwatch League] ecosystem,” said Pete Vlastelica, president and chief executive of Activision Blizzard esports leagues, in a statement on ESPN’s website. “ESPN is invested in the growth of the NBA and now we hope they are invested in the growth of our league. That’s what makes it a significant moment.”
Exact terms of the deal between Activision Blizzard and Disney were not disclosed, but this is another indication of the rapid expansion of esports in the U.S.—the OWL is still in its inaugural season. The OWL will become the first competitive gaming tournament to air live on ESPN in primetime, and will also become the first esports championship to air on ABC.
“We are turning the corner here in terms of our interest and engagement in the esports category,” added ESPN vice president of digital media programming John Lasker. “We’ve had an interest and have been watching pretty closely how the first year of the Overwatch League has been progressing, and we’re really excited to be a part of this.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Overwatch is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game, released by Blizzard Entertainment in May 2016. A total of 12 teams compete in the OWL with a prize pool of $3.5 million available in its first season.
The Overwatch league has stated in the past its desire to follow the organization model of traditional North American professional sports, and establishing broadcasting rights deals as a key source of revenue is clearly a major step toward solidifying esports’ place in the modern sports-entertainment landscape.