ESPN is bringing FIFA and eSports to its flagship channel for the first time ever in the United States, it was announced today. The Worldwide Leader and Electronic Arts Competitive Gaming Division (CGD) are partnering to broadcast the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series Paris Regional Final this Sunday.
ESPN will broadcast this weekend’s Regional Final along with the FIFA EA Majors in 60-plus countries in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The FIFA Championship Series will also be available on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3. The new relationship will allow EA to “expand our reach and give millions of new fans around the world a front row seat to the action,” according to CGD.
“We’re expanding our competitive gaming portfolio to include events that also resonate with traditional sports fans, and EA’s FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series fits perfectly into how we intend to continue to serve eSports fans moving forward,” Kevin Lopes, ESPN’s Director of Programming and Acquisitions said in a statement. “The opportunity to reach this passionate audience globally in multiple languages is exciting, and we are pleased to do so as part of our long-standing relationship with EA.”
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Added Todd Sitrin, Senior Vice President of EA Competitive Gaming Division said in a statement: “We’ve long believed in the potential of competitive gaming to reach an even broader audience once games are more accessible to play and more accessible to watch. I’m very excited to bring on ESPN who shares our vision as we pioneer the next phase of our competitions and bring experiences like EA SPORTS FIFA to more fans.”
Additionally, the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series will be live streamed on YouTube and Twitch while EA.com will also embed the Twitch stream on its site.
EA also announced on Friday it’d be extending its broadcast partnership NFL Network and Univision around Madden NFL, which will include the final three major tournaments this year: Madden Bowl, Madden Challenge and Madden Championship.
Here is the full ESPN broadcast schedule of the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series along with the schedule for the Madden NFL Championship Series.