Match TV and eSports holding ESforce announce a strategic partnership
The main goal of the partnership will be to introduce eSports broadcasts to television screens, giving the new sports niche an opportunity to compete for viewers with universally recognized sports.
The first stage in the cooperation between the TV sports channel Match TV and ESforce Holding, one of the largest eSports organizations in the world and a leader on the Russian eSports market, will be joint work at the international eSports tournament Epicenter: Moscow in the Counter-Strike contest. This is one of the main events of the year for the many millions of fans of computer sports. The tournament takes place in Moscow from October 17 to 23.
Match TV and ESforce will join forces to prepare digests and direct feeds from the Epicenter tournament, while experts of the computer games industry discuss the development, current trends and prospects of eSports on the talk show Realnyi Sport (Real Sport).
Also with the help of ESforce, Match TV is creating its own eSports portal on its website (http://matchtv.ru/cyber) where anyone can find news about eSports, information about the matches, forecasts and videos of popular games.
eSports is among the 10 most popular sports in Russia even though it was only included in the official register in June 2016. The recognition of eSports in the country has opened the door to holding international competitions there, as well as earning sports ranks and developing training programs for judges and coaches. It has also led to a growing interest in eSports among the media.