Newsbrief: Major League Baseball-owned BAMTech has formed a $300 million streaming deal with Riot Games for the exclusive rights to stream and monetize League of Legends eSports competitions through 2023.
The streaming company is also slated to launch a streaming app geared around League of Legends events for smartphones and computers in 2017. Neither of the companies plan to charge a subscription fee to watch through the app, and will instead make money through sponsorship and ad revenue.
BAMTech will also handle how League eSports content is distributed to other streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
“Our goal has always been to build League of Legends into a major global sport,” said Riot’s Director of eSports, Jarred Kennedy in a Wall Street Journal story announcing the partnership. “We want our sport to be funded by itself and we think this deal is going to help us get there."