Epic Esports Events invites independent streamers to collaborate in the second season of EPIC League. The tournament organizers are also announcing recruitment of community casters for the official broadcasts of the season’s games.

Mark Averbukh, Epic Esports Events Product Director:

“Epic Esports Events is inseparable from the esports community. We are confident that the synergy between the EEE and the audience can deliver amazing results. We respect the work of independent streamers and we are certain that the community should have a choice in which voiceovers to watch the EPIC League. Therefore, we have developed a proposal which lets streamers comment with minimal delay, and we hope that many people will be interested.“

Independent streamers can broadcast EPIC League Season 2 content on their channels, subject to the following conditions:

• No visual and voice advertising;

• Every 60 minutes streamers are to post a link to the official broadcast of the event in the chatbot. For example: “Official broadcast is available on https://www.twitch.tv/dota2ruhub and https://www.twitch.tv/epicenter_en1”;

• 15 minutes delay after the broadcast on Dota TV;

• Using a unified broadcast name, e.g. “EPIC League TEAM1 vs TEAM2”*.

Community casters are also invited to collaborate. Pre-qualified community casters will be able to stream EPIC League matches with minimal latency, as well as receive tournament rewards.

Streamers interested in cooperation must fill out the form by November 2 and specify the most convenient format for them to work at the tournament. This offer is limited.

• eSportsONE will be available from November 3 in Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Slovakia via the M7 platforms TV Vlaanderen, CanalDigitaal and Skylink
• Central content partners for the launch are ESL, the NBA 2K League and Psyonix with the esports titles “Dota 2“, “Starcraft 2“, “Warcraft 3“, “NBA 2K“ and “Rocket League“
• Pan-European agreement with M7 for the distribution of eSportsONE via satellite and various M7 platforms
• Program structure with mix of live coverage of global top events and exclusive, self-produced analysis formats – all in English
• Olaf Schröder, CEO of Sport1 Medien AG and Chairman of the Management Board of Sport1 GmbH: “We continue our esports success story internationally and are launching a new ground-breaking project with eSportsONE as a pan-European esports broadcaster.“

Milestone through internationalization in the esports market: Sport1 GmbH launches a new, pan-European esports channel with eSportsONE. eSportsONE goes on-air on Tuesday, November 3, in several European countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Following the successful launch of the first linear TV channel for esports in the German-speaking region with eSPORTS1, this is the first time SPORT1 is implementing a pan-European channel project. The pay-TV channel eSportsONE will be distributed via the M7 platforms TV Vlaanderen, CanalDigitaal and Skylink at launch. Moreover, M7 serves as the central satellite distribution partner. Further platforms in numerous European markets will be added in the coming weeks. Central content partners are ESL, the NBA 2K League and Psyonix with the esports titles Dota 2, Starcraft 2, Warcraft 3, NBA 2K and Rocket League.

The 24/7 program of the pan-European channel comprises over 1,000 live hours per year of top-class international esports events as well as exclusive, self-produced analysis formats. The program content is prepared for the international target group by SPORT1‘s esports editorial team together with experts and influencers from the English-speaking esports community. All esports events are broadcast with English commentary, while individual highlights are commented by the SPORT1 esports editorial team and broadcast from an own studio.

The central content partner for the pan-European region is ESL, the world‘s largest esports company, with serial top competitions in Dota 2, the Warcraft 3 Pro Tour, the Starcraft 2 Pro Tour as well as numerous additional ESL competitions. In addition, other top esports properties will be featured, including the NBA 2K League and Psyonix‘s international Rocket League Championship Series. The NBA 2K League, a joint venture between the NBA and Take-Two Interactive, is a professional esports league featuring the best NBA 2K players in the world and the first official esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league. SPORT1 thus also offers a versatile and comprehensive portfolio at the pan-European channel eSportsONE, thereby differentiating itself from existing international offerings.

The agreement with the M7 Group enables the channel to broadcast via satellite as well as via the M7 platforms TV Vlaanderen, CanalDigitaal and Skylink platforms. Further European markets will be added in the coming weeks through additional cooperations.

Olaf Schröder, CEO of Sport1 Medien AG and Chairman of the Management Board of Sport1 GmbH: “We are pioneers and trailblazers in the growth market esports with its great opportunities: At the beginning of 2019, we launched the first esports channel in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with eSPORTS1 – an important milestone with which we have further expanded our positioning as a leading medium in the German-speaking esports community. Now we continue our esports success story internationally and are launching a new ground-breaking project with eSportsONE as a pan-European esports broadcaster. Our goal: We want to make esports even bigger in Europe in the future beyond the young core target group and to anchor it even more sustainably in the society.“

Highlights for the channel start with current top events and analysis show “eSportsONE – Analytics“

In addition to current top events, the program schedule after the channel’s launch will include, the new exclusive, self-produced analysis show “eSportsONE – Analytics“, in which the key scenes of major esports events are examined. Three esports experts will analyze all facets of the tournament in the one-hour program and talk about high lights and low lights. After the launch of the channel, eSportsONE will also look back on the final of ESL One Germany. From October 5 until November 1, 16 of the best Dota 2 teams from Europe and the CIS region are competing against each other in this online tournament. Starting November 7, eSportsONE will also feature live broadcasts of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS). In the following months the NBA 2K League will also be broadcast live on eSportsONE, amongst others.

Background: eSPORTS1 – the first linear TV channel for esports in the German-speaking region

On January 24, 2019, Sport1 GmbH had launched the first linear TV channel for esports in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with eSPORTS1. The 24/7 program of the pay-TV channel comprises at least 1,200 live hours per year of top-class international and national esports events as well as highlight programs and self-produced magazines. The program content is curated, edited and presented by the in-house esports editorial team together with experts and influencers from the esports community for the target group in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Numerous large esports events are commented on in German and sent from its own esports studio. eSPORTS1 illustrates thereby the most well-known esports titles like, amongst others, League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Overwatch, Hearthstone or FIFA 20 live.

Epic Esports Events announces the second season of EPIC League Dota 2 tournament in collaboration with the leading (лучше best) teams of Europe/CIS region. The tournament will replace the second season of OMEGA League announced earlier.

Mark Averbukh, Epic Esports Events Product Director:

“After two great tournaments that Epic Esports Events have organized together with the partners, we are glad to return to our own flagship online product — EPIC League.”

The first details of the second season of EPIC League:

• As previously announced, the matches of the second season of EPIC League will be held in two divisions in the Europe / CIS region;

• Open qualifiers for the tournament will be held from October 29 to October 30 on FACEIT;

• The closed qualifiers will take place on November 3-11, the participants of the closed qualifiers will be announced later;

• The second division participants will play from November 11 up to December 1. Playoff stage for this division is scheduled for December 8–13;

• The first division games are scheduled from November 12 to December 5, the playoff stage will be held from December 8 to 13;

• The number of first division teams has decreased from 12 to 10. All these teams will play in one group, with an increased amount of matches – 45 instead of 30;

• First division participants are Virtus.pro, NAVI, Alliance, Team Liquid, Nigma, Vikin.gg, OG и Secret;

• The prize pool of the first division is $500 000, and $50 000 is planned for the second one.