The announcement of this new streaming agreement follows the conclusion of a two-year $90 million deal between Blizzard and Twitch for Overwatch League streaming rights. ADADCall of Duty League’s predecessor, the Call of Duty World League, made matches available for viewing last year on MLG.com, Twitch and on PlayStation 4’s in-game Live Event Viewer. The LCS deal with ESPN+, which is nonexclusive, replaced a prior exclusive agreement with Major League Baseball and Disney-owned BAMTECH. Though esports rights deals have reached into the millions, they are still just a fraction of the value of the television deals struck by traditional sports leagues. ADADBroadcast rights have been one of the biggest drivers of revenue for traditional sports leagues, and esports leagues hope to eventually replicate that stream as audiences for competitive gaming continue to develop.

Source: Washington Post January 24, 2020 21:34 UTC