In the lead-up to E3 this year, Nintendo once again brought back their Nintendo World Championships event. There they hosted tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon 2, and Super Mario Maker 2. Soon, any Nintendo fans who missed seeing them live will have a new way to watch these battles.
As announced today, television network CBS will re-air the Nintendo World Championships later this month as part of a new partnership between Nintendo and ELEAGUE. These two companies have worked together before, back when the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Invitational 2018 aired on TBS.
Spreading out the esports love
It’s great to see more and more evidence that esports is starting to go mainstream. Many are coming to realize that these are more than just people playing video games; rather, they are treated as legitimate professional competitions. Big television networks are starting to take notice, helping esports reach beyond online streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Mixer. This is not the first time a cable network has broadcasted esports before, after all. ABC has broadcast Overwatch League matches, for example.
What will be interesting to see this time around is how many viewers will tune into their televisions to watch the Nintendo World Championships. No doubt many who were truly interested in these tournaments already caught them during E3. But either way, it’s great that big networks actually want to broadcast these events. Who knows? Maybe an esports-dedicated television network will air one day. There are numerous games with esports scenes, and I am certain that many of their fans would love to tune into something like that.
The Nintendo World Championships will air CBS on Aug 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET. The network will host two more episodes of this – likely just reairing the tournaments a second and third time – on Sept 7 at 2:00 p.m. and Sept 14 at 1:30 p.m. Will you be tuning in to watch them?
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