The world championships of LoL will be coming to network TV this weekend thanks to Riot Games and ESPN. Screenshot below is the ESPN3 scheduled is the "League of Legends World Championship Final at 2:30am on ESPN3". Could we see E-Sports heading to network TV in the US? I think this is a monumental moment for E-Sports in general, not just for LoL and Riot, but other games too.
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/#type/upcoming/startDate/20141019/
If I had a TV, I'd watch it just to prove that esports is a market that networks would benefit from covering.
Either way, awesome news.
No I wouldn't. I'd watch it on Twitch. In my opinion tv is quickly becoming antiquated tech, and in many ways is inferior to online media.
Considering there's much more flexibility when watching online, vods, and the espn will just be the stream anyway, I don't see the point in subscribing to that channel, dealing with their shitty commercials, and being separated from people i'd want to watch it with who aren't local.
(They did this last year too)
They need to see the numbers go up on the ESPN broadcast for it to even be considered. The problem, it's mostly mobile devices (and appletv) and it requires you to "activate" your account. So you have to input your tv service provider (btw, DirecTV isn't an option) followed by a code to view through ESPN3.
It's ESPN3.... At 2:30am... I wouldn't really consider it a big step for esports. I wouldn't even call it a step in the right direction. esports doesn't need TV, anyone that would be interested in watching it already has an internet connection because chances are they play the game, and can just go to twitch instead of having to find out which channel ESPN3 is on and having to watch 417 Old Spice commercials.
