Taking another step on the road to becoming the “ESPN of eSports,” Major League Gaming announced MLG.TV, a new online streaming video platform dedicated to covering the growing world of eSports.
The online video platform will use a proprietary video player to support MLG content – including new programs like the eSports Report, which airs Thursdays at 7pm EST – developed specifically for the channel. MLG will also continue to show its own tournaments, as well as partnering with other groups to bring more content. The Call of Duty team OpTic Gaming and the European eSports league Gfinity have both been confirmed, and more announcements are expected soon.
The announcement is timed to coincide with this weekend’s MLG Championships held in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament will begin on November 22 at 5pm EST, and continue through Sunday, November 24. Along with an international Dota 2 tournament, the Championship will feature the first ever Call of Duty: Ghosts tournament, and it will all stream exclusively on the new channel.
The unveiling of MLG.TV may also signify the end of the partnership between MLG and Twitch, which MLG co-founder and president Mike Sepso described to us as “delicate” back at the last MLG Championship in July.
“MLG is one of the fastest growing premium content producers on the web with over 600% growth in audience over the last three years and a long history of driving industry-leading returns for major brand advertisers,” Sundance DiGiovanni, co-founder and CEO of MLG said in a press release. “We leveraged our experience as a top online broadcaster to create the ultimate environment for not only our own content, but other industry leaders as well. Based on years of research and first-hand experience with other streaming solutions, we built a platform from the ground up to deliver the viewing experiences that we and our partners create. The MLG.TV network and video player are architected to deliver the highest quality viewing experience possible, utilizing the most reliable streaming technology available.”
