PLAYzone will broadcast major tournaments of the ESL Pro Tour for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in Czech and Slovak languages
Cologne/New York/Stockholm, August 12, 2021 – ESL Gaming, the world’s largest esports company, today announced a media rights partnership for 2021 and 2022 with esports leader PLAYzone, part of the Czech TV station FTV Prima Group. The agreement entails the exclusive rights for PLAYzone to broadcast competitions of the ESL Pro Tour for CS:GO via all their digital channels in both Czech and Slovak.
The partnership commences with ESL Pro League Season 14 and offers esports fans from the Czech Republic and Slovakia the possibility to enjoy ESL tournaments in the local languages. PLAYzone has been granted the rights for eleven competitions from the ESL Pro Tour for CS:GO including Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2022 and IEM Cologne 2022.
PLAYzone is an esports events company and agency organizing local competitions and game events, such as the Czech Computer Games Championship, the most prestigious local esports event. PLAYzone also offers online marketing in the game community and provides live broadcasts of esports and game events from their own studio in FTV Prima. The partnership marks a new milestone for Czech and Slovak teams as the winner of the regional CS:GO competitions organized by PLAYzone will receive a slot in one of the ESL National Championships Global Playoffs in 2022.
“With a Czech team like SINNERS rising in the rankings, esports is rapidly growing in popularity in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and we are therefore delighted to join forces with a true leader in esports like PLAYzone,” said Frank Uddo, Senior Vice President Global Media at ESL Gaming. “It is great that with this partnership we not only expand our reach, but that we can also offer our local fans the best possible opportunity to cheer for their favorites and to enjoy our tournaments.”
“PLAYzone has been shaping the local esports market for a long time, and it is close cooperation and integration with global leaders that is one of the basic pillars of our strategy, which moves us and the entire market to a higher level. A direct connection with the world’s largest esports organizer allows Czech teams to regularly measure their strengths with the best and gain valuable experience. At the same time, we can engage viewers into the most prestigious competitions in the world,” explains Lukáš Pleskot, Executive Director of PLAYzone.
For more information about ESL Pro Tour for CS:GO and the upcoming season, please visit the official website. To get all the latest news head to eslfaceitgroup.com or follow ESL Gaming on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About ESL Gaming
ESL Gaming is the world’s largest esports and gaming lifestyle company. Since 1994, the company has been shaping the industry and leading esports and gaming innovation on a global scale across the most popular video games with numerous online and offline esports competitions, and through premier gaming lifestyle festivals. The company operates high-profile, branded international leagues and tournaments under the ESL Pro Tour, including Intel® Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League, and other preeminent, stadium-size tournaments such as ESL One. ESL Gaming also produces and hosts the ESL Mobile program, DreamHack Open tournaments, ESL National Championships, grassroots amateur cups, matchmaking systems, and DreamHack’s gaming lifestyle festivals — which feature everything gaming under one roof. ESL Gaming is part of MTG, the leading international digital entertainment group. More information is available at eslfaceitgroup.com.
About PLAYzone
PLAYzone Agency focuses on organizing game events, online marketing in the gaming community, professional live broadcasts from gaming and non-gaming events, as well as the annual organization of the Czech Republic Computer Games Championship and the Czech Republic Mobile Games Championship, which are considered the top sporting events of the year. A great activity is also the PLAYzone.cz portal, which is the most visited gaming portal on the Czech Internet and whose task is to organize daily tournaments and news from the domestic and foreign world of programming, together with a number of community activities. In 2019, it strategically merged with the Prima COOL station. The aim of this connection is the development of sports and then the attractiveness of television and online broadcasting on Prima COOL.