Turner, WME | IMG partner for ELEAGUE to bring eSports to the masses

Execs from both partners in ELEAGUE spoke to FanSided about what makes this eSports league different from anything that’s come before.

Though it’s probably a mistake to try narrowing it down to discrete moments, there’s a general fascination with attempting to identify if eSports have “arrived.” There’s no denying their popularity, and questions of mainstream acceptance have shifted from if to when.

As evidenced by companies like ESPN investing in eSports in a big way, that shift is happening even as we speak, and it took another potentially big step today. ELEAGUE, a joint venture between Turner and WME | IMG, launched this afternoon, kicking off its first season of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with 24 teams competing in a 10-week competition.

Most of the competition will be streamed on Twitch, a pretty standard move for any eSports organization. Matches will take place every Tuesday through Thursday during the six-week regular season, available live or on demand.

Where ELEAGUE has a leg up on some its competition is that Turner has committed to featuring a Friday night showcase live each week on TBS at 10 pm Eastern time. It’s the first time ever that eSports will be seen on a nationally distributed cable network on a regular schedule, so if you’re one of the people keeping tabs on how the industry is moving forward, this seems like another significant milestone.

That said, the seed behind ELEAGUE was planted from a desire to retain what has worked for eSports so far while adding another entry point for newcomers, according to WME | IMG Global Head of eSports Tobias Sherman.

“We try to focus on where the puck is heading, not where the puck is or where it was but where it’s going, and we want to be ahead of that curve and an industry leader,” Sherman said to FanSided in a recent phone interview. “In doing so, one of the big opportunities we saw for eSports was to really expand the reach, and we had to answer the question of how we continue to grow this industry and reach more people. TV was obviously the answer, and I think there’s some validity that TV adds to the space for a lot of people.”

With a variety of platforms at its disposal, Turner makes for a logical partner. It’s very much a traditional media company, but one that Turner Sports Executive Vice President of Production and Chief Content Officer Craig Barry says was already actively rethinking its content models.

“It was really kind of an organic move for us,” Barry said. “Obviously, the media landscape, content-wise, has changed. You’ve heard this a million times; people want the content where they want it, when they want it and how they want it, and they want it on multiple devices. Turner has entered into that dynamic, whether it’s with Super Deluxe or whether it’s with Great Big Story or CNN.com, that digital first content creation and distribution. So when we looked at eSports, we felt like this was a real opportunity to create live, competitive content on a digital platform with a great opportunity for a linear support system in TBS.”

Barry added that the idea is not to upset the apple cart in terms of presentation or format. Both companies are cognizant of the idea that hardcore eSports fans are accustomed to certain aspects of top level video game competition, and those won’t be changing for ELEAGUE just because it has a TV aspect.

Instead, the hope is that what Sherman says is “a lot of eSports fans out there who don’t realize they’re eSports fans yet.” The streaming and television components are intended to complement each other, allowing for what both men feel has been lacking from eSports coverage so far: storylines that allow fans, especially casual ones, to connect with the participants.

The human interest side of this venture is one that Barry compares favorably to the Olympics, albeit on a much smaller scale. But his analogy to sports like track and field and curling is a valid one, in the sense that people do get wrapped up in the storylines and compelled to watch.

Sherman feels the same way.

“As an industry, we haven’t done a great job, classically, of being able to tell these stories,” Sherman said. “It’s always been next event, the next event. I think that’s another thing that ELEAGUE provides is a long enough runway for these storylines to develop, where you do have deeper and more invested viewership because they are attached to the human interest side of it.”

Turner’s commitment also includes a 10,000-square foot arena built specifically for ELEAGUE at Turner Studios in Atlanta. It has 26 cameras, including point-of-view cameras for each player, office space and training areas for all the competing teams and room for a live studio audience.

That speaks to what both men are calling the desire for quality and authenticity. Ideally, the end product is something that will appeal to both established aficionados and those who happen across ELEAGUE as their entry point into eSports.

And while there’s some of the usual numbers pressure on the TV side, Barry says that a combination of factors will be considered when weighing whether or not ELEAGUE is a success for TBS.

“This is obviously a marathon for us and not a sprint,” Barry said. “So ultimately, specifically to TBS, sure, a high rating would be great. But I think when you look at the collective of concurrent digital views plus ratings plus social sentiment from the community, I think that’s ultimately going to have to be your gauge of success in Season 1. You have to have acceptance from the community in order to push forward and be able to build that audience. If for some reason we don’t have that, then the trajectory gets exponentially more steep in Season 2.”

For more information on ELEAGUE, check out the organization’s official website or its Twitch channel. For more gaming news, please visit our hub page.