Riot Games, developer behind such games as League of Legends and VALORANT, has signed a deal with Bilibili regarding exclusive broadcasting rights. The deal entails rights to the broadcasting of League of Legends games in China starting with Worlds 2020 and running until the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational.
This means that Bilibili will get to broadcast the three biggest events League of Legends has to offer (Worlds, MSI and All-Star Event) in China. Besides striking a deal for broadcasting rights, Riot Games and Bilibili also agreed on creating more esports related content (such as a documentary detailing 10 years of the LPL) and hosting and broadcasting other offline events. According to esports journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau Bilibili paid 113 million dollars for three years of broadcasting rights.
Riot has confirmed its deal with Chinese video site Bilibili for LoL Worlds, MSI, All-Star broadcast rights in China
Bilibili reportedly paid Riot $113M over 3 yrs for just three events and one region. makes Activision Blizzard’s OWL/ CDL Twitch/YouTube deals look like peanuts
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 3, 2020
The COO of Bilibili, Carly Lee, commented on the deal between the two parties. “We are excited to reach this strategic partnership with Riot Games. Throughout the past decade, we have witnessed the development of the esports industry from a niche market to a mainstream one that is now one of the most popular sports among young people in China.”
The Global Head of Esports at Riot Games John Needham was also positive that the deal would open up League of Legends esports to a wider audience. “We continuously look to share our tournaments to a wider fan base across different platforms, and we have full confidence in Bilibili to elevate this superb tournament to the next level. Our partnership with Bilibili opens us to new audiences by their immersive live-broadcasting experience.”
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