Major League Baseball’s technology services company BAMTech signed an exclusive streaming rights deal with gaming publisher Riot Games for a minimum of $300 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal to stream eSports title League of Legends, which was confirmed by Riot Games on Friday, runs through 2023.
“This is a game changer for our sport,” wrote the developer and gaming company on its website about the partnership. “…As an innovator in digital sponsorship and media sales, BAMTech will help us unlock long-lasting and meaningful value for our digital sport as it matures.
“In BAMTech, we have found a partner equally committed to building professional League of Legends towards the lasting future we believe in for teams, players and fans. We’re honored by their faith and belief in our sport.”
Central to the deal is BAMTech’s ability to have exclusive rights to stream and monetize League of Legends competitions, which includes a $50 million per year guarantee for Riot Games.
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“We think the world is ready for eSports. The sponsors, the advertisers are ready for it. They’re dying for it. It’s a great audience and they spend a great deal of time with this content,” said Bob Bowman, BAMTech President of Business and Media to Yahoo.
BAMTech is a spinoff of Major League Baseball Advanced Media and currently is the streaming technology provider for clients such as Disney, the WWE, HBO, NHL and PGA Tour. As part of the deal with Riot Games, BAMTech will handle the distribution of content that is streamed through Twitch, YouTube and other platforms. It will also create a streaming app in 2017 for PCs, smartphones and other devices, which it will then sell against through advertising and sponsorship deals.
“We wouldn’t be here if there (wasn’t) an app involved…we’re going to build a world-class app for a world-class game,” Bowman said.