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Overwatch League And Twitch – Multi–Year Media Rights Deal

A historic esports media-rights partnership for the fans

In an announcement today, it has been revealed that the Overwatch League™ and social video service Twitch have announced a historic esports media-rights partnership. This partnership will ensure that every match of the Overwatch League will be readily available to fans across the globe, with the first match of the Overwatch League’s inaugural season scheduled to go live on Twitch this Thursday, 11 January AEDT/NZDT, over at the Overwatch League Twitch channel.

This will be a two-year deal and will encompass the entirety of the league’s first two seasons, and for fans of professional Overwatch who have been eagerly anticipating a seamless Overwatch League viewing experience, I can only imagine that this news comes as a blessing. 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 to be available in English, Korean, and French.

The Overwatch League in partnership with Twitch is also busy developing innovative rewards for fans, which will bestow the league’s most steadfast viewers with Overwatch League in-game items. More details about rewards, 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 favourite 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 Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday AEDT/NZDT. A full schedule can be found at the Overwatch League website.

So Overwatch fans, are you excited to hear about this partnership? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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Written By Tegan Walsh-Jones

Tegan began gaming with her father when they would play Street Fighter together on her Nan’s PlayStation. Since then she has fallen in love with indie games, AAA games (I’m looking at you Tekken) and everything in between. Starting off as a console player, and more specifically an Xbox player, Tegan has now recently begun her new gaming ventures on PC. You can find her playing dating sims on Steam @carrotphernelia if you so wish.

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