The Overwatch League quarterfinals start Wednesday, July 11 at 8 p.m. ET and fans can now watch all of the action on ESPN, Disney, and ABC networks, “Overwatch” developer Blizzard Entertainment announced Wednesday. Blizzard, ESPN, and Disney have signed an exclusive multi-year broadcasting deal that includes tonight’s playoffs, the Season 1 grand finals taking place at the Barclays Center in New York later this month, and Overwatch League Season 2. Blizzard will announce details about the Overwatch League World Cup at a later date. Matches will air on ESPN, ESPN 2, Disney XD, and ABC. Coverage will also be available for ESPN and Disney network subscribers live on the ESPN and DisneyNOW apps. Fans can still watch on video game livestreaming platform Twitch as well. Overwatch League’s grand finals will be the first esports competition to air live on ESPN’s flagship network in primetime, and it will be the first broadcast of an esports championship on ABC. “The Overwatch League Grand Finals is by far our most comprehensive television distribution for an esports event over a single weekend: 10 total hours over four networks and three days,” said Disney and ESPN Media Networks executive vice president of affiliate sales and marketing Justin Connolly,. “This overall collaboration with Disney/ABC, ESPN and Blizzard represents our continued commitment to esports, and we look forward to providing marquee Overwatch League coverage across our television platforms for fans.” This is not the first time ESPN has aired a Blizzard esports event. It broadcast the first two seasons of Heroes of the Dorm, a college-level championship for Blizzard’s multiplayer online battle arena game “Heroes of the Storm.” The third season, however, aired exclusively on Facebook last year. The Overwatch League Grand Finals begin on Friday, July 27 at 7 p.m. EDT with the first best-of-five match on ESPN, and it continues on Saturday, July 28 at 4:30 p.m. EDT with the second and potential third series on Disney XD. Day two of the grand finals will re-air on ESPN 2 at 9 p.m. EDT. There will also be a highlight show airing Sunday, July 29 at 3 p.m. EDT on ABC. Overwatch League 2017–2018 Playoffs and Grand Finals Telecast Schedule (all times Eastern):<doc-sep>Start transforming your game’s economy and increase your bottom line. Get the free guide now. Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021. Disney and Blizzard Entertainment are partnering to bring Overwatch League to Disney-owned channels, such as ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2, and Disney XD. Overwatch League is Blizzard’s big esports initiative for its popular team-based shooter. It takes a page from traditional sports by having teams based in cities, such as Seoul, Dallas, Boston, and London. Overwatch League’s first week, which took place at the start of the year, drew 10 million viewers. Blizzard has noted that viewership has grown from there. So far, Overwatch League has stuck with streaming services and sites like Twitch and MLG. Expanding to traditional TV could help expand its audience. The multiyear broadcast deal starts with Overwatch League playoffs, which start today. The deal also includes this fall’s finals and next year’s Overwatch League Season 2. We’ve seen Overwatch esports on TV before, but this is the first time Overwatch League will be on TV. Blizzard has shown other esports competition on channels like ESPN and ESPN 2 before, including tournaments for StarCraft 2 and Heroes of the Storm. Overwatch launched in May 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It has reached over 40 million players. Overwatch League competitors use the PC version.<doc-sep>The Overwatch League is coming to ESPN, and I'm not talking about The Ocho: Disney and Blizzard announced today that pro league action, including the season 1 finals and next year's season 2, will be broadcast "in some fashion" on the flagship network as well as ESPN2, Disney XD, and ABC. The deal focuses primarily on live broadcasting and full replays, but ESPN's digital platforms will also have rights to content that could include things like highlight packages or "supplemental content" aimed at ESPN viewers who may not be familiar with esports. It will not invalidate existing agreements, however, so existing fans will still be able to get their fix through familiar distribution channels like Twitch. "It's a cross section that's a hardcore sports fan, especially on ESPN channels," Activision Blizzard esports leagues president and CEO Pete Vlastelica said. "They love watching competition, they love watching the best in the world compete at a great game. Maybe they have played video games. Maybe they know of Overwatch. Maybe they even play Overwatch or play it a lot. But they're fundamentally looking to be entertained by the highest possible level of competition around a great game. And that's what we've got." This isn't ESPN's first foray into esports: Its broadcast of The International in 2014 was a resounding success that eventually led to one of my favorite headlines of 2016, when ESPN decided to become the ESPN of esports. It now provides extensive coverage on its website of major esports leagues, teams, and individuals. Even so, bringing Overwatch League play to ESPN's primary channel is a big step. "We are turning the corner here in terms of our interest and engagement in the esports category," ESPN vice president of digital media programming John Lasker said. "We've had an interest and have been watching pretty closely how the first year of the Overwatch League has been progressing, and we're really excited to be a part of this. Clearly by the way we're going to be covering it starting with the playoffs and the finals this year certainly speaks volumes to our excitement and our enthusiasm overall for esports moving forward." ESPN coverage of the Overwatch League actually begins tonight, with the first round of quarterfinals between the Philadelphia Fusion and the Boston Uprising at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET, followed by the London Spitfire and the Los Angeles Gladiators at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET. The full broadcast schedule is below.<doc-sep>
The Overwatch League has signed a broadcast rights deal with Disney, bringing the tournament series to the ESPN, Disney, and ABC family of networks. The multi-year broadcast rights deal starts with the Overwatch League playoffs later today, ESPN announced. Overwatch League’s season one finals held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York later this month and season two of the Overwatch League next year are also included in the deal. Related: Everything you need to know about the Overwatch League playoffs “Hundreds of hours” of live and highlight programming will be broadcast across the ESPN network, ESPN2, Disney XD, ABC, and streaming services, ESPN said. It’s the first time the Overwatch League will be broadcast live on television. The Overwatch League will continue to be broadcast on Twitch per its $90 million, two-year streaming rights agreement. “We are turning the corner here in terms of our interest and engagement in the esports category,” ESPN vice president of digital media programming John Lasker said in a statement. “We’ve had an interest and have been watching pretty closely how the first year of the Overwatch League has been progressing, and we’re really excited to be a part of this.” A recap show will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN said, as well as live broadcasts and full replays across the other networks. Digital rights are also included in the deal, which could include “supplemental content catered toward fans who might not be as familiar with Overwatch.“ “Clearly by the way we’re going to be covering it starting with the playoffs and the finals this year certainly speaks volumes to our excitement and our enthusiasm overall for esports moving forward,” Lasker said. ESPN did not disclose the full terms of the deal. The Overwatch League’s regular season began in January. Four stages have since passed, leading into the Overwatch League playoffs. Six teams—Boston Uprising, Philadelphia Fusion, London Spitfire, New York Excelsior, Los Angeles Valiant, and Los Angeles Gladiators—out of 12 remain in contention for the inaugural championship title.