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ELEAGUE Becomes First eSports Event Distributed Live via Twitter
ELEAGUE, a professional eSports organization formed in partnership between Turner and WME | IMG, and Twitter will partner to provide live streaming coverage of this week’s ELEAGUE semifinals and championship, featuring Valve’s popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive game. The live event competitions will be held Friday and Saturday, July 29 and 30, from Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta. This will mark the first eSports event presented live on Twitter.
ELEAGUE’s first semifinal will take place Friday, July 29, at 5 p.m. ET, followed by the second semifinal at 10 p.m. The season one championship will be held Saturday, July 30, at 4 p.m. with the top two CS:GO teams facing off in a best-of-three series.
TBS’s enhanced event coverage will be televised as part of the Friday night showcase at 10 p.m., along with the championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. Live streaming coverage of all three matches – featuring the observer feed – will be available on Twitter and Twitch.
In addition to live event coverage, the @EL Twitter handle will provide real-time highlights, GIFs, memes, stats and score updates; Periscope content with ELEAGUE on-air talent; and behind-the-scenes footage with players.
“Twitter is the native social platform for eSports and this partnership provides our passionate fans with an additional opportunity to consume ELEAGUE content as we reach the pinnacle of our first season,” said Christina Alejandre, General Manager of ELEAGUE and Vice President of eSports, Turner Sports. “We’re excited for our first ELEAGUE championship and look forward to offering these content experiences to our high-engaged fan base.”
“Esports fans go to Twitter to see and talk about what is happening now in competitive gaming,” said Anthony Noto, Twitter’s Chief Financial Officer. “Gamers are one of the largest and most engaged audiences on Twitter, and we are thrilled to partner with Turner and WME I IMG to bring them the live content from ELEAGUE and Twitter commentary they are already looking for, all on one screen.”
Throughout its championship coverage, ELEAGUE will continue to feature a limited commercial break format across all three platforms, which will include advertising branding and content from Official Marketing Partners Domino’s, Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Credit Karma.
For additional information on ELEAGUE’s championship weekend, including an opportunity to purchase tickets, visit www.e-league.com/finals. For the latest ELEAGUE updates, visit www.e-league.com and Twitter @EL.
About Turner
TBS, TNT and truTV are part of Turner, a Time Warner company. Turner creates and programs branded news; entertainment; kids and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.
About WME | IMG
WME | IMG is a global leader in entertainment, sports and fashion operating in more than 30 countries. Named one of Fortune’s 25 Most Important Private Companies, WME | IMG specializes in talent representation and management; brand strategy, activation and licensing; media production, sales and distribution; and event management.
About Twitter
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is an iconic service and global platform for self-expression and live conversation. Twitter has always been the best place to see what’s happening now. Whether it’s breaking news, entertainment, sports, or everyday topics, only Twitter lets you connect with people anywhere in the world with live conversation. Anything that happens, you see it first on Twitter. By developing a fundamentally new way for people to consume, create, distribute and discover content, Twitter enables any voice to echo around the world instantly and unfiltered. Twitter is available in more than 40 languages around the world. The service can be accessed at Twitter.com, on a variety of mobile devices and via SMS. For more information, visit about.twitter.com or follow @twitter.
Media Contacts:
Nate Smeltz, Turner Sports, at (404) 827-4786 or nate.smeltz@turner.com
Mike Scanlan, WME | IMG, at (386) 843-0188 or mike.scanlan@img.com
Elizabeth Luke, Twitter, at (201) 982-3799 or eluke@twitter.com