{"id":341476,"date":"2017-05-20T00:27:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T16:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1493423"},"modified":"2017-05-20T00:27:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T16:27:05","slug":"facebook-takes-on-twitch-with-new-live-streaming-deal-for-esports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/facebook-takes-on-twitch-with-new-live-streaming-deal-for-esports\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook takes on Twitch with new live-streaming deal for esports"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

In addition to Facebook\u2019s announcement<\/a> of a new partnership with the MLB to live stream a number of regular season games, the social network this week also signed a deal with\u00a0global\u00a0esports company ESL to bring over 5,550 hours of esports events and other original content to Facebook, including 1,500 of original programming.<\/p>\n

The move will aid Facebook in challenging Amazon-owned Twitch as well as Twitter, both of which have esports deals as part of their efforts in the live streaming space.<\/p>\n

For example, Twitter in March announced<\/a> its own partnerships with ESL and DreamHack to bring over 15 events from the ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters and DreamHack circuits to Twitter, where they\u2019ll be made available for live streaming on the web and mobile, directly through the Twitter app.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, video game streaming site Twitch is still today the de facto home for esports content. Last June, a report<\/a> indicated that over 100 million Twitch users had streamed 800 million hours of esports in the last ten months on the service, with event and league organizers gathering\u00a0the lion\u2019s share of those views \u2013 accounting for 71.3 percent of all esports viewership.<\/p>\n

Facebook\u2019s deal will kick off next month, beginning with content from the Rank S competitions, a ladder for the Counter Strike:Global Offensive community. This will be supplemented by an exclusive, 30-minute CS:GO weekly show that will feature the top players, upcoming talent and other competition highlights.<\/p>\n

All the ESL One and Intel Extreme Masters will also stream via ESL\u2019s Facebook network across six languages \u2013 English, French,\u00a0Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and German.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The company has made other more moves to attract live streamers to its network in recent days, as well. It added support for desktop streaming to user profiles, allowing gamers to more easily stream their gameplay, and it announced other content partnerships with esports teams Team Dignitas and Echo Fox.<\/p>\n

For esports companies like ESL, the opportunity to stream on Facebook means they\u2019ll have a chance to reach a broader audience \u2013 including, perhaps, more mainstream viewers who don\u2019t regularly frequent a video gaming-focused destination like Twitch.<\/p>\n

However, the deals don\u2019t preclude ESL from also streaming to rival networks like Twitch, Twitter, or YouTube.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith over 1.94 billion monthly active users on Facebook, this is a huge step toward expanding the reach of esports among mainstream audiences,\u201d said Johannes Schiefer, Vice President of Social Media and Editorial at ESL, in statement, reiterating this point. \u201cLast year, ESL content generated over 2 billion impressions and reached over 200 million users on Facebook globally. Now, with the addition of live streaming for all major ESL\u00a0<\/span>events, as well as exclusive content around CS:GO<\/em> and ESEA, we are excited to expand our reach to more audiences and build strong local communities of highly engaged esports fans,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

ESEA is ESL\u2019s subscription-based platform for\u00a0amateur, semi-professional and professional CS:GO players. Its Rank S competition brings together over 300 of the best North American and European ESEA players who compete for a $40,000 prize pool each month across the two regions.<\/p>\n

ESL likely also\u00a0sees Facebook as a means of re-engaging esports viewers when they\u2019re not actively seeking out gaming content, thanks to Facebook\u2019s ability to alert users about new live streams through push notifications, and other alerts when they\u2019re more passively browsing the network.<\/p>\n

Facebook, too, recently adjusted its video settings<\/a> on mobile to autoplay videos with the sound on \u2013 a change that could increase viewership of live streamed, professionally produced video content like this, and open up the door for more advertising possibilities<\/p>\n

Esports is a rapidly growing business and source of revenue \u2013 in 2016, global revenue reached $493 million<\/a>, and it\u2019s expected to see a 41.3 percent increase this year. By 2020, it\u2019s expected to reach $1.488 billion.<\/p>\n

The content will begin streaming in June 2017 on the ESEA Facebook Page<\/a> and in its official Facebook group.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" In addition to Facebook’s announcement of a new partnership with the MLB to live stream a number of regular season games, the social network this week also signed a deal with\u00a0global\u00a0esports company ESL to bring over 5,550 hours of esports events and other original content to Facebook, including 1,500 of original programming. The move will aid Facebook in challenging Amazon-owned Twitch… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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