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Disney has just placed a big bet on electronic sports
ESPN signed an agreement with Bobby Kotick Activision Blizzard ( ATVI ) ] for the TV rights of the league Overwatch eSports – a defining moment in the rise of competitive video games, which offers great prices and attracts large crowds.
The multi-year agreement brings the playoffs and finals of Overwatch League to ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2 and Disney XD. This will mark the first time that electronic sports have been broadcast on ABC and the first time that ESPN has broadcast the event in prime time.
Related: Why ESPN goes big on basketball
The game of competition attracts large audiences eager to watch people play video games. More than 360 million viewers watched a livestream of the eSport 2017 "League of Legends" competition. This kind of popularity has aroused the interest of the International Olympic Committee, which plans to make electronic sports an Olympic sport.
While comparisons between digital and television programming are typically apples for oranges, eSports audiences have overshadowed the 111.3 million viewers of the 2017 Super Bowl and the 30 million viewers of the NBA. ;last year.
This year's Overwatch Quarterfinals started on July 11th. The competition will end with the Grand Finals, which will take place on July 27 and 28 at the Barclays Center in New York and will be broadcast on ESPN and Disney XD. The Overwatch League is a global company, with teams from all over Asia, Europe and North America.
"The Overwatch Grand Final is by far our most comprehensive television distribution for an eSport event on a single weekend", Disney ( DIS ) and ESPN Executive Vice President The President Justin Connolly said in a statement.
CNNMoney (New York) First published on July 11, 2018: 18:34 ET
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