Twitch Cuts Last Minute Deal For Overwatch E-Sport League

Twitch Makes Last Minute Deal

Twitch pretty much has a solid handle on the competitive gaming streaming. There are of course alternatives, but most of the big events are hosted on Twitch. Given that Overwatch has been one of the best competitive team FPS games in recent memory, for a long time Twitch has been home to many of the major Overwatch Tournaments.

A new competitive league for Overwatch, however, was in dire peril of not being part of the Twitch family. Literally, the day before the league was set to start, no deal was in place between the two companies. In what was presumably a late night session of hammering out terms (and possibly obstinate heads) a deal was reached and the tournament will officially be streamed live on Twitch.

What went right… or wrong?…

In July 2017, Blizzard Activision formally announced a worldwide e-league featuring some of the best Overwatch players out there. The league, due to start on the 10th of January, was set to be one of the biggest competitive leagues out there. There was, however, just one slight problem. On the 8th of January 2018, there was still no streaming deal in place with Twitch.

Therefore, one of the biggest gaming events almost didn’t have a home. Fortunately, a last-minute deal was brokered in a report via the BBC and the event is now set to air. I have been unable to confirm an exact amount, but the deal was worth many millions of dollars. This might explain the delay, however, leaving it until the day before is a little short notice. It has also led some to criticise the timing saying that the league will lose out on viewers due to the lack of promotional time.

The league will start airing on the 10th of January on Twitch.

What do you think? Ridiculously short notice to cut a deal? – Let us know in the comments!