EA SPORTS FIFA 17 competitive gaming will be broadcast on television in the U.K. and Ireland for the first time as BT Sport announced Thursday it will provide coverage of the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series.
BT Sport will broadcast the remaining four EA FIFA Majors – Season Two North American Regional Final in Vancouver (April 8), Season Two Asia-Pacific Regional Final in Singapore (April 22), Season Two European Regional Final in Madrid (May 6) and the FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championship Final in Berlin (May 20-21).
Get The Latest eSports Tech News In Your Inbox!
The deal enables the EA Competitive Gaming Division (CGD) to be televised live in its two biggest markets for FIFA, as ESPN began broadcasting the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series in February. Coverage of virtual football being played on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles can be found on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3, as well as live streamed on Twitch, YouTube and on EA.com.
“There’s a profound opportunity for competitive gaming to achieve mainstream success and the key to accomplishing this is accessibility,” Todd Sitrin, EA’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Competitive Gaming Division, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with BT Sport to make our exciting competitions for EA SPORTS FIFA, the most popular video game in the UK, available across the nation as we move the industry forward.”