DAZN has acquired the exclusive Brazilian broadcast rights for the Blast Premier League. The sports streaming service will be broadcasting the events in English. While the league normally streams on platforms such as Youtube and Twitch, they have also inked deals with other broadcasters in some markets. Some of these deals have included Russian company Winstrike and Danish television company TV 2 Denmark.
No financial details about the deal were disclosed.
DAZN’s current strategy
Recently, international events and market exclusive broadcasts have been part of the England-based company’s strategy. Despite its increasing presence in the United States, its main markets continue to be outside the United States with international rights.
This includes some major American sports such as NCAA Basketball and MLB. However, this will be DAZN’s first venture into esports. They’ve also found their way into internet culture recently by hosting boxing matches featuring controversial internet personality Jake Paul.
Traditional sports streaming and esports
Aside from DAZN, other online-based sports streaming services have been experimenting with esports over the past few years. For example, ESPN broadcasted the Overwatch League and League of Legends on its online networks last year. Though as of this year, YouTube has exclusive rights to Overwatch League and Blizzard’s other esports leagues.
Blast Premier League
The Blast Premier League is the first high-level Counter-Strike league to start play in 2020. According to the league’s website, they “want to amplify the best elements of esports”. Blast was previously an organizer for weekend tournaments, but their Premier League aims to be a full-blown esports league.
This isn’t the only league to launch this year, as ESL will be launching their 24 team “Pro League” in March. Also, FACEIT will have its “B Site League” starting soon.
Follow Daily Esports to keep up with developments in the increasingly interesting world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Published: Feb 4, 2020 11:07 am