ESL One Genting’s Dota 2 World Championship picks tonton and Ntv7 as official broadcasters

Video gaming event organiser ESL One Genting has picked Media Prima Television Networks (MPTN)’s online video streaming portal, tonton, and ntv7 as its official broadcasters for its Dota 2 World Championship.The tournament will take place at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands.Fans of competitive video gaming or eSports can watch eight of the world’s top teams, including Malaysia’s Fnatic, battling it out for the coveted ESL One Championship title and prize pool of US$250,000 from the 6th till 8th January 2017.All 6.3 million registered tonton users will be able to live stream the semi-finals in High Definition (HD) for free on 6th and 7th January 2017 and the grand finals on 8th January 2016. Meanwhile, ntv7 will showcase the grand finals on 8th January 2017 from 6pm onwards.Over the last few years, e-sports has been a booming phenomenon across the world including Malaysia. Although eSports has been around since the early 2000s, its growth has been exponential recently due to larger prize pools, a wider player and audience base, and growing sponsorship.In 2013, it was estimated that more than 72 million people worldwide watched eSports. It is especially popular in South Korea, Europe, North America and China where most competitions are held. The global eSports market generated US$325 million revenue in 2015 and was believed to make $493 million in 2016. The global eSports audience in 2015 was 226 million people, according to MPTN.“We are truly honoured to be given the privilege of bringing e-sports to Malaysians for the first time as the Dota 2 craze is rapidly gaining popularity amongst gamers in Malaysia. We are continuously expanding sports content through our media platforms and the inclusion of eSports has the potential to attract urban viewers and sports aficionados,” said Datuk Kamal Khalid, chief executive officer of Media Prima Television Networks.Piantchenko-Graf Mickael, Asia managing director of ESL Asia added, "We are very excited to be in Malaysia and in order for the people who are not able to come and experience our world-class tournament, tonton and Ntv7 will be the best ways to watch and feel the action."