Gfinity has partnered with Eleven Sports to broadcast The Elite Series across all seven of its international markets – the US, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Poland, Singapore and Taiwan.
This will include live competitive streams of competition at the Elite Series, across the three games being featured: Street Fighter V, Rocket League and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
All matches are taking place at the Gfinity eSports Arena in London, and in this season which started on 7th July, eight teams have faced off in the Elite Series, with each team being drafted from players that took part in Gfinity’s online Challenger Series. The first season is a seven-week season, with round robin leagues that are followed by semi-finals and a grand final.
This is the first year of the Elite Series, and Gfinity have admitted they are still working out the best way to approach the Elite Series, but that they’re looking to extend the Challenger Series and Elite Series into new markets, something that could be helped by a television deal.
Eleven Sports will be, again, showing live coverage of the matches, but will back this up with preview and review shows, behind the scenes footage, magazine segment content and also industry interviews and features. This will be coupled with local content for different markets, with the US getting more content and narrative framed around the US team competing, as an example.
“eSports is growing rapidly worldwide and we are thrilled to agree this deal with Gfinity to bring a slice of the action to fans in every one of our markets,” said Danny Menken, Eleven Sports’ group managing director.
“Gfinity aims to create a community where gamers can play, share, watch and learn via dynamic and engaging content. This makes it the perfect partner for Eleven Sports in line with our strategy to bring fans close the action, creating a go to destination where a community of dedicated and passionate millennial fans can access a diverse range of content that is tailor-made for them.”
Gfinity’s CEO Neville Upton added: “We are very excited to work with Eleven Sports as they are an excellent partner to deliver top quality broadcasting to almost 80 million pay-TV households on top of their OTT subscribers in the key markets where eSports matters the most. Eleven Sports distribute some of the biggest sporting events which makes them a natural fit for all the competitive video game action that the Elite Series has to offer in full HD, globally.”
By Jake Tucker, editor, eSports Pro
