The world-famous esports tournament organizer ESL is cutting its exclusive deal with Twitch. ESL looks set to stream on both Twitch and YouTube in 2023 and beyond. ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), one of the world’s biggest esports organisations, confirmed via Twitter that it will deliver ESL esports content to global esports fans by broadcasting tournament live streams on multiple viewing platforms including YouTube whilst honoring its existing partnership with Twitch delivering ESL worldwide.

EFG’s content including ESL, FACEIT, DreamHack, and DreamHack Sports Games brands, plus also the new ESL R1 racing league will be blasted across multiple streaming platforms. All this signals a change in direction that could extend to other esports outfits. Whilst gamers love Twitch there are other platforms that offer a way to engage with other captive audiences delivering streams to the Twitch community.

ESL Youtube Bound! Find ESL’s streams on YouTube in 2023

In April 2020, ESL and DreamHack agreed to a three-year contract with Twitch. The first year of the agreement was non-exclusive, and the following two years restricted all official English-language feeds to Twitch. ESL had previously agreed to exclusive streaming agreements with Facebook and YouTube, both of which were criticised by the gaming community due to its substandard viewing experiences and technical limitations.

The gaming community’s complaints ultimately forced ESL to renegotiate the agreement and end exclusivity the next year. At the time, it was the only site to stream ESL Pro League and ESL One events. Although YouTube was a much more formidable rival, the Twitch being Twitch became the official home of CS:GO for years which was still subject to disapproval, albeit to a lesser extent.

ESL proclaimed on Twitter that it is longer bound by exclusivity agreements with any platforms and will, going forward, be accessible to CSGO fans on Twitch, YouTube plus other streaming services. An earlier April 2020 ESL and DreamHack partnership with streaming site Twitch ended before the IEM Katowice Play-In Stage.

Fans of esports who stream and bet on matches now recognise streaming platforms other than Twitch. Youtube’s ability to support esports content has improved massively since the early days. If you browse tournaments outside of ESL’s circuit — in particular, BLAST and PGL events — what you’ll find are streams simultaneously on YouTube and Twitch with high viewership on both platforms.

The expiry of ESL’s deal now allows them to follow suit and stream their events across multiple platforms, including that of ESL Pro League and the ESL Pro Tour. Other parts of ESL’s circuit, including ESL National Championships, can now also be streamed to multiple services.

Summary

The end of the current ESL x Twitch deal ceases before IEM Katowice’s Play-In stage kicks up. There will always be esports fans e  prefer viewing esports on one website or another be it Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook. 

Initially, ESL’s contract with Twitch made sense because of the low level of backlash versus partnering with other channels at the time. When the Play-In Stage begins on February 1, fans who use various streaming services will be glad to hear that they may watch every major ESL competition, including ESL National Championships, on both Twitch and Youtube on mobile and PC.

EFG’s vision is that boosted distribution on YouTube will offer the organization fresh opportunities to grow its presence on the platform, as well as equip fans with more opportunities to interact with content in multiple different ways going forward.