ESL to Stream CS:GO Tournaments on Twitch and YouTube
Starting with the $1 million IEM Katowice this week, ESL, the tournament organizer, will be streaming its CS:GO tournaments on both Twitch and YouTube, according to an announcement made today.
This change in broadcast approach comes after the non-exclusive deal between ESL, Dreamhack, and Twitch expired. While ESL had to exclusively stream their official English broadcasts for CS:GO tournaments on Twitch in 2021 and 2022, there are no plans for exclusivity with YouTube or Facebook at the moment.
ESL is following the lead of other notable CS:GO tournaments like BLAST and PGL, which stream matches on both Twitch and YouTube. YouTube offers the advantage of allowing fans to instantly replay any part of the match they want, which is why some fans prefer it over Twitch. YouTube is also more accessible on Smart TVs compared to Twitch, as not all Smart TVs have the Twitch app. Additionally, Twitch consumes more bandwidth than YouTube, which may not be ideal for Wi-Fi hotspot users watching a match.
Related: IEM Katowice CS:GO 2023: Scores, Bracket, and Results
ESL’s chief relationship officer and senior vice president of brand and media partnerships, Mark Cohen, stated, “As we are creating worlds beyond gameplay, it is important to connect with the community where they are, be that on Twitch, YouTube, or any other platform. Live-streaming our events on our own broadcast channels across multiple platforms adds to the reach our products have via our official media rights partners and allows us and our brand partners to grow and nurture the esports community and to better serve gaming enthusiasts worldwide. Building on our relationships with Twitch and YouTube, we have the opportunity to provide fans with a better viewing experience, and we are thrilled to have them on board on this journey.”
You can follow ESL’s CS:GO broadcasts on YouTube on its official channel.