NEWS

Televised ESports in America


I can remember when I was a little kid seeing my dad play the first Medal of Honor game on his old PS2 and thinking ‘wow that is so cool’ and when I found out that certain competitive video games were going to be televised right here in the USA (under the name of eSports, of course) I got that same feeling.

Of course, telecasting video games is nothing new. The South Koreans have been doing it with Star Craft for some time now and the Internet is rife with websites like Twitch that stream or broadcast competitive games. There’s a guy on Youtube that I found last week who uploads competitive Dawn of War II games with commentary like you’d get in a football or Rugby game.

TBS, the American based cable and satellite TV channel is expected to bring competitive gaming to a home near you some time in 2016 with Counter Strike: Global Offensive heard to be the game of choice. They’ve partnered with IMG and WME to bring this to life and are planning on running it alongside their college football and baseball games in 10-week long seasons, with a new match released every Friday.

“The level of investment is unlike anything that this sport [ESports] has seen," said Turner Sports President Lenny Daniels. "The way we treat players will be on par with the way we treat [former NBA star] Charles Barkley. We want to upgrade the whole sport."