Sports TV Channels are turning to live esports broadcasts
Everyone miss sports for the time-being. The act of courage, triumph and orderly chaos that gives viewers passion and so many emotions is lacking due to CoviD-19. Certain sports are restarting where they left off like Football league and Formula 1 but stadiums are still closed due to fears of the virus spreading.
COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out professional sports and associated revenue for TV networks, but esports is
filling part of that void. Millions of people sheltering in place has created
a breakout opportunity for esports broadcasting:
1. A large portion of the internet-using population is
at home 24/7, with screens as their main entertainment outlet.
2. Sports fans have few competitive live events to
watch.
3. Broadcasters like ESPN, CBS, and Sky lost their
most valuable content for attracting live viewers and need alternative content.
4. Star athletes and non-sports celebrities are stuck
at home with wide-open schedules.
In late March, 900,000 viewers tuned into Fox
Sports for Nascar’s iRacing series, with 1.1 million watching in early April;
the network has also broadcast Madden NFL tournaments with NFL commentators and athletes. ESPN is televising
NBA players facing off against each other in NBA 2K (by Take-Two Interactive)
and pro drivers (and other pro athletes like Manchester City striker Sergio
Aguero) are racing each other in Codemasters’ F1 2019 game. ESPN has broadcast
competitive play of non-sports games with League of Legends (by Riot Games) and
Apex Legends (by EA) tournaments.
By Safwan Kasim
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