Turner partners with Twitch to live-stream e-sport programming


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Michelle Clancy

| 21 May 2016




With its launch just a few days away, ELeague – the gaming/e-sports venture of Turner Broadcasting and its agency partner – has set a multi-year deal with game-streaming power Twitch.



e sporteSports is a term used to refer to organised, multiplayer video gaming competitions, which are rapidly expanding in popularity on a global scale.

According to data provided by NewZoo, global eSports viewership is more than 226 million people, with the total expected to climb to 323 million by 2018.

The new deal means live streaming videogame coverage will appear from the start of the six-week season.

Each of the live tournaments will be available along with on-demand content via a league channel on Amazon-owned gaming streamer, which said last year that it has more than 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million visitors per month. There will be six games a day every Tuesday and Wednesday, and a pair of matches on Thursday. There will also be a Friday night showcase on TBS as part of 30 hours per week of e-sports programming.

“Twitch has become the live streaming destination for millions of gamers on a global scale and we’re looking forward to directly connecting ELeague with its passionate community,” Christina Alejandre, GM of ELeague, said. “We’re incredibly excited for the launch of ELeague and Twitch provides us with a premier destination for fans to congregate and engage with our live event coverage.”

“At Twitch, we love to see partners push the envelope of live digital broadcasting,” said Kevin Lin, COO, Twitch. “Turner and WME | IMG investing heavily in e-sports with ELeague is a great move in the right direction for the development of the industry, with their expertise sure to elevate the experience for fans, players and teams alike.”