FACEIT is excited to announce a partnership with Sky Sports to broadcast the final matches from the UK’s first CS:GO Major. Top teams from around the world will compete for a share of the US$1,000,000 prize pool in the biggest esports event to take place in the UK to date. The partnership marks the first time Sky Sports has ever broadcast competitive CS:GO, and reflects the profile of the prestigious FACEIT London Major.
Sky will air multiple programmes offering viewers riveting access to the tournament. Content will include an exclusive one hour documentary outlining the road to the Major and the live broadcast of the finals on skysports.com, and Sky Sports’ YouTube and Facebook channels, from the 20th to 23rd September. A “highlights” programme capturing the most exciting plays from the finals will also air after the event at 11pm on Sky Two.
The partnership comes after the Minors and Challengers stages of the tournament which both saw unprecedented viewing figures on Twitch and YouTube. The Europe Minors alone saw 4.3M hours watched, peak 147k concurrent views and 82k average viewers, excluding Chinese viewership. Average viewers and hours watched were more than triple that of the last two EU Minors. The recent Challengers Stage also saw record breaking viewership, with over 20M hours watched and 500k peak concurrent views. The sold out finals take place at the SSE Arena, Wembley and will welcome 10,000 spectators to the arena for each of the tournament’s four days of playoffs and the grand final.
“Bringing the FACEIT London Major to an entirely new audience is extremely exciting for us,” said Michele Attisani, CBO & Co-Founder of FACEIT. “We have been working closely with the team at Sky to ensure all of their content is both accessible and entertaining. It’s essential we strike that balance between offering enough CS:GO information to ensure viewers understand what’s going on, whilst maintaining the entertainment value that keeps fans absorbed.”
Georgie Faulkner, Sky Sports’ Head of Multi Sports, said: “FACEIT Major is one of the world’s biggest esports events, and we’re delighted to be able to bring the London finals to a whole new audience. We’re no stranger to world of esports, but this is the first time we have broadcast competitive CS:GO and we can’t wait to get started. With a sold-out SEE Wembley Arena, and some of the biggest names in the game, we’re sure our viewers will love it.”
You can watch the live broadcast from SkySports.com, or Sky Sports’ YouTube and Facebook channels.
For more information on the FACEIT London Major, visit www.faceitmajor.com or follow FACEIT on Twitter at www.twitter.com/faceit