Twitter eSports Live Stream: Social Network Teams Up With DreamHack, ESL To Broadcast Tournaments Starting This Weekend

After making some moves towards live sports streaming, Twitter announced Thursday it’s teaming up with ESL and DreamHack to bring eSports tournaments and other live content on Twitter.

When Will Twitter eSports Live Stream Start?

ESL and DreamHack, two of the biggest esports companies, will live stream eSports events worldwide this year via Twitter, starting this Saturday with the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice tournament. DreamHack events will live stream starting in April with the DreamHack Austin tournament.

What Twitter, DreamHack and ESL Will Livestream

Twitter promises to live stream more than 15 events and 1,500 hours of live content in ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters and DreamHack Tournaments.

Apart from all Intel Extreme Masters and ESL One tournament content, ESL will also produce live content exclusively for Twitter, including a 30-minute show with highlights and behind-the-scenes clips.

The Twitter eSports live streams will be much like watching events on TV, since it will include ad spots along with highlights and recap clips that advertisers can sponsor and promote on Twitter.

"Esports is growing at a rapid pace and we see this collaboration as a way to tap into the engaged audience of gamers that are already using Twitter as a primary source of content," said Twitter COO Anthony Noto in a statement. "By partnering with the leading esports companies like ESL and DreamHack, we look forward to bringing the best of esports live video and conversation together on Twitter."

DreamHack CEO Marcus Lindmark said Twitter is “a very strong eSports platform” that many of its fans and followers already use for its events.

"This will be a shortcut for fans, as they can both watch and engage on the platform at the same time," he said.

Last year, Twitter teamed up with Eleague and Turner to livestream two days of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. Twitter has shown its interest for live traditional sports as well. Last month, Twitter paired up with Showtime to live stream the boxing fight between Adrien Broner and Adrian Granados.