ESL, the largest independent esports company, and Facebook Gaming today announced an expansion in their partnership to provide coverage of all global ESL competitions on the Facebook platform.
ESL will broadcast the most important events of its circuit, Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) and ESL One, as well as Pro League, the main professional league of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO). The expansion of the deal began with the IEM Katowice Minor CS: GO Regional Qualifiers on January 16, 2019 and will run through December 2019. There will also be live broadcasts of the ESL Pro League in English and Portuguese.
ESL will be broadcast globally through Facebook in 1080p and 60 fps quality
As Ralf Reichert, ESL Co-CEO commented:
ESL brings together a global community of esports fans and aims to bring amazing experiences to audiences around the world, both online and through large-scale events. It offers multiple means through which the audience can experience our iconic circuits online. The return to Facebook Gaming is part of the company's vision to continue providing content to a rapidly growing audience.
Since the inception of ESL live broadcasts on Facebook, both companies have collaborated to make meaningful updates to the experience for esports fans. The new updates include improvements to video quality and stability, as well as easier ways to discover ESL events.
Expanding ESL content to include all global esports competitions is one way to meet the growing interest in watching video game content on Facebook according to Leo Olebe,
Director of Global Games Partnerships of Facebook. Leo added the following
Giving ESL fans a way to watch esports across multiple platforms is something we know the community cares about, and that's a big reason why all 2019 content will be streamed anywhere ESL desires. We will continue to listen and act on player feedback as we work together to build the world's gaming community.
