Fans enjoy esports as well as watching esports like any other competitive sport.
It’s the absolutely awesome spectacle of fantastic players excelling at their game of choice.
Keeping up with any sport is a serious business, though, and esports is no exception.
Most people rely on Twitch for watching esports events, but there are so many more options out there.
And, esports lovers should know all the best places to get their pro-play fix.
Here is a list of some other great places to watch esports:
Quick Overlook
Watching Esports on YouTube
In the past few years, YouTube has put in the work to become a contender in the esports streaming market.
In 2020, YouTube Gaming had its biggest year yet.
With 100 billion watch-time hours, their viewership is making a notable impact on the spread of esports.
YouTube Gaming also hosts 40 million+ active gaming channels, including live-streamers, esports news, and highlight channels.
This range covers highly popular games like LoL Esports, Rainbow Six Esports, Rocket League Esports, and more.
This platform has also hosted streaming events for LoL Worlds and CS:GO ESL One.
These high-profile events make YouTube Gaming’s efforts all the more impressive.
Also, YouTube does offer some of the best post-stream catch-up content.
Their live streams save as videos, so anyone can go back and watch the gameplay all over again.
Places like Twitch have the streams disappear after seven days, giving fans a much smaller window to catch up.
It’s the perfect platform for casual or binge-watch-type fans.
Esports on Facebook Gaming
Though Facebook is later to the gaming scene than other contenders, it still provides a great option for streaming esports.
They are the exclusive broadcaster for PUBG Mobile Pro League and have certain exclusivity rights for DOTA 2 and CS:GO events.
Facebook has also done the legwork for not only drawing esports fans to their site but also helping create a community for them there.
With their new pro-gaming projects, they also created a dedicated app for gaming and esports that fans can use.
The Facebook Gaming app allows for integrated live-streaming, community discussions, and mobile gameplay.
WePlay App
Not only is WePlay a great site to find out about their upcoming esports tournaments, but you can also download their WePlay Esports App!
This way, you can watch your favorite esports on your phone oir your SmartTV.
This includes streams as well as VODs. You can download the app by following this link: https://weplay.tv/events/esportstv.
Cable
While cable networks were slow to realize the sheer power of esports, they’ve come around the past few years.
After all, in 2017, CBS televised a stream of Candy Crush Saga gameplay, of all things, and that still got a viewership of 4 million people.
Nowadays, the BBC does the same with the GFinity Esports Series. Similarly, ESPN casts streams of Overwatch League events.
ESPN also hosted an esports day in 2020, where they turned April 5th into an all-day esports extravaganza.
In the wake of there being fewer sports events, they’ve also had athletes play tournaments of their respective games.
For example, Kevin Durant and Trae Young participated in an NBA 2K20 event, and Michael Vick played in a Madden 20 face-off.
They may not have the same volume of esports as other places, but when cable networks do show gaming events, they take it seriously, and they’re always a lot of fun.
Streaming Services
Between the rise of streaming services and Smart TVs, companies like Disney and TBS have been quick to jump on the market.
TBS shares their esports properties on its ELEAGUE website. ELEAGUE hosted and streamed a Street Fighter V Invitational, as well as the CS:GO Premier and the Injustice 2 World Championship.
Now, the Disney conglomerate has been really pushing for esports streaming.
On Disney+ and ESPN 2, fans get to watch the Street Fighter V Finals and the Evolution Champions Series (the mouse is really serious about those fighting games).
They’ve also expanded their Hulu options to include ESL Replay, showing previously broadcasted esports for fans to watch at a later date.
So, casual esports fans can still enjoy the best gameplay without too much trouble.
Now, it’s only a matter of time before esports take over the world, right?
All esports fans have to do is sit back and enjoy it on all their favorite platforms.