The LA Times reports that Riot Games is close to finalize a $200 million streaming rights deal with MLBAM. An earlier report by Sports Business Daily quoted anonymous sources on a deal worth $90 million annually. However, LA Times reporter Paresh David invokes two sources close to the deal, reporting even $200 million over two years. The story had first come to light by a report from ELEAGUE host Richard Lewis, only recently decorated eSports Journalist of the Year by UK’s eSports Industry Awards.
While it’s still unclear how the deal turns out in detail, a lot of discussion has arisen about the possibility of its exclusivity. According to the LA Times, Riot and MLBAM are working on a dedicated app to showcase League of Legends competitions in the future. As a result, Riot’s dependency from Twitch and other livestreaming platforms would decrease. However, it could be a risky approach as well. LA Times quotes Eliot Kent-Uritam, director of media and analytics at ad agency Nice & Co. who keeps a keen eye on the development.
“If they are cutting people off, is it going to make the game a less popular thing? What could be the worst long-term thing is doing something that makes people less interested,” Kent-Uritam told LA Times.
SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen weighed in as well, arguing that Riot could offer a fee-based subscription model and furthermore attract advertisers to monetise the application. Turning away from the likes of Twitch and YouTube completely would be bold but not unenforceable regarding Riot’s monopolistic position when it comes to League esports. More likely, though, is a transition process where both—livestreaming and the new app—exist next to each other over a certain period of time. Sports Business Daily had one source stating that Riot had assured its streaming partners to have games in 2017.
After that, nobody knows what’s next. Presumably not even Riot Games.
