ESL FACEIT Group Renews Partnership With SPORT1

Published by

James Fudge

1 year ago

ESL FACEIT Group Renews Partnership With SPORT1

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) announced Tuesday that it is extending its partnership with German TV network SPORT1 GmbH and eSPORTS1 for another year. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Under the terms of this renewed deal, broadcasts of ESL-branded Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and StarCraft II competitions will be shown across the company’s sports broadcasting and streaming stations in Germany in both German and English languages.

Those events include Intel Extreme Masters tournaments, ESL Pro League, ESL #StarCraft II Masters, ESL One, and DreamLeague.

EFG is owned by Savvy Gaming Group, a diversified video gaming company owned and fully-funded by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, or PIF. Savvy Gaming Group acquired tournament organizer ESL from Modern Times Group in January of 2022 and separately bought FACEIT at around the same time for a total price tag (for both) of $1.5B USD. Both were merged together to form ESL FACEIT Group. Earlier this month EFG acquired U.S. esports production company Vindex for an undisclosed amount of money.

James Fudge

With a career spanning over two decades in the esports and gaming journalism landscape, James Fudge stands as a seasoned veteran and a pivotal figure in the evolution of esports media. His journey began in 1997 at Game-Wire / Avault, where he curated gaming and community news, laying the groundwork for his expertise in the field. In his more recent roles, James cemented his status as an authority in the esports business sphere as Senior Editor Esports at Sports Business Journal and The Esports Observer between 2018 and 2021.