Street Fighter V Finals at Evo 2016 will air on ESPN 2

The fighting game community will have its moment to shine with Street Fighter V finals play at Evo 2016 being broadcasted on ESPN 2.

Bouncing back after a slow start, Street Fighter V is starting to look like the complete package for casual and competitive fighting game players, alike. In addition to the cinematic story mode being added to the game, Ibuki and Balrog were added to the roster. Both of those players will also be eligible for play at Evo 2016, as well. Finally, registration for Street Fighter V at Evo is at a record high, surpassing a massive 5,000 player pool.

The good news keeps on rolling, as ESPN has announced that they will be broadcastingStreet Fighter V Top 8 finals play at Evo 2016 starting at 10 PM ET. The focus remains solely on airing Street Fighter tournament play live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV. Other Finals events of the day, including Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mortal Kombat X, Guilty Gear Xrd-REVELATOR and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, will not make it to TV, but remain on Twitch.

“The Street Fighter V World Championship will be one of the must-see competitions from the Evo finals,” said John Lasker, vice president of programming and acquisitions, ESPN Digital Media. “We are always exploring ways to serve the growing and passionate audience of competitive gaming, and we look forward to delivering this event to fans.”

ESPN is no stranger to fighting games like Street Fighter V, nor tournaments like Evo 2016. In addition to their own division focused purely on eSports, they had previously shown off highlights of a fairly embarrassing moment of “premature celebration” from Evo 2015 live on Sportscenter.

Furthermore, ESPN 2 has televised eSports tournament finals for Heroes of the Storm in the past, broadcasting the collegiate-based “Heroes of the Dorm” tournament earlier this year and last.

This will mark one of the biggest public displays of Street Fighter V outside of those playing the game. Based on the Capcom Pro Tour’s influence over the fighting game community regarding sponsorships in the past, it will be interesting to see how reigned in the event will play for a TV-viewing audience.