14 DAY TRIAL // ESL is continuing its dizzying ascent through the world of eSports, further consolidating its position on the market with a brand-new, multi-year partnership agreement with Twitch, the world's foremost gameplay streaming service.
In addition to this, Twitch will be exclusive streaming partner for the upcoming ESL One Frankfurt 2014, the biggest European Dota 2 event, taking place in one of the stadiums utilized for the 2006 Football World Cup, the Commerzbank-Arena, in Frankfurt, Germany.
"We are a pioneer within the industry by creating the most epic and magical moments possible. A big part of this is communicating and sharing an event's atmosphere in high definition to thousands of eSports fans at home unable to attend. This wouldn't be possible without Twitch and the power of its platform,” says Ralf Reichert, CEO and Managing Director at ESL.
The partnership is the natural result of the good synergy between the companies, as they have reached numerous broadcasting milestones together in the recent past. ESL has worked together with Twitch closely since the platform launched in 2011, and gaming enthusiasts from over 180 countries have watched ESL's content through Twitch, breaking streaming records one after another.
"ESL has created a premium esports product at worldwide scale and are a top example of the premium gaming content available on Twitch. They have a passion for games and have built a great community. And when you look at their record setting numbers and international reach, they are clearly one of the key players in the eSports industry," explains Stuart Saw, regional director, EMEA, Twitch.
The announcement regarding ESL's partnership with Twitch also follows the closing of the most successful Intel Extreme Masters season to date, surpassing all viewership and attendance records, with support from the Twitch platform.
As such, the deal comes as a natural next step for ESL, as the company has recently announced the expansion to the North American scene, where it hosts competitions for all major eSports titles in addition to having opened a full TV production studio based in Los Angeles, California.
The deal will result in Twitch being the exclusive Western world broadcaster for all ESL events, including far-reaching content and marketing collaboration worldwide.
ESL has also announced plans to use Twitch to air the ninth season of Intel Extreme Masters, the ESL One Frankfurt 2014, the events taking place at gamescom 2014 and throughout ESL's studios in Europe and North America.