ESPN+ moves into esport with league of legends streaming

ESPN+ has secured a multi-year deal with Riot Games to stream the North American League of Legends Championship Series with coverage to start June 16.

The non-exclusive agreement will not affect services that currently broadcast League of Legends such as Twitch, YouTube and Riot’s in-game player. It will open up yet another avenue for esports and traditional sports fans to watch League of Legends broadcasts within ESPN’s subscription-based network.

The North American division features Team Liquid (part of the aXiomatic Gaming investment group backed by Warriors owner Peter Gruber), Golden Guardians (Golden State’s own team), and Counter Logic Gaming (owned by Madison Square Garden).

In a statement, ESPN said it will “bring the largest esports in the world to sports fans” with the Riot deal. The 2017 World Championship saw a record 80 million unique viewers tuning in for a single match, with fans consuming a total of more than 1.2 billion hours of content over the course of the event.

“Subscribers of ESPN+ will be able to watch League of Legends competitions alongside thousands of additional live sporting events, original content and shows, and an on-demand video library,” ESPN said.

This comes off the back of the deal they struck with UFC earlier this month in a deal reportedly worth $750 million.

ESPN+ is the company’s direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service, which was redesigned and launched earlier this year. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year.