Canada-based gaming and esports company Torque Esports has entered a programming syndication agreement with Blake Broadcasting.
The deal involves content from Torque Esports and its UMG brand, and covers the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America markets. Described as the ‘leading platform for online tournament play’, according to Torque, UMG has so far generated more than 1.2 billion page views, 25 million video views, and paid out more than $3m in prize money.
Torque has been quick to capitalise on the massively increased interest in sim racing – which has readily filled the gap left by the COVID-19 induced cancellation of real world motorsports events. The company’s expanded sim racing offering is thought to be one of the clinchers for the Blake deal.
Discussing the deal President and CEO of Torque Esports, Darren Cox, said:
“We had been planning our syndication efforts towards the Esports Upfronts event, which was to be held in April in New York. The rapid shift of interest in our existing simulator racing and competitive gaming content has been overwhelming. We had already been talking with Blake Broadcasting, so it seemed fitting to expand that deal to all of Torque & UMG Content.”
While CEO of Blake Broadcasting, Bob Blake, added:
“The live content pipeline, especially in sports, all but dried up overnight. Torque & UMG Gaming already had a strong portfolio of competitive gaming content, from virtual motorsports to traditional series and remote competitions.
“The quality of Torque’s programming and deep experience and history made the decision easy. Adding Overwatch Collegiate Clash and The Race All-Stars Esports Battle motorsport events to their catalog just strengthens our joint effort further.”
In December last year, Black Broadcasting entered an agreement with ESL and DreamHack to broadcast events in the United States, Canada, and Asia (excl. China), through July 2023 – with the CBNN satellite channel to carry the ESL Pro Tour and Dota 2 events.
AYO.NEWS says:
So far sim racing has undoubtedly benefited the most from the cancellation of real world sports events – which is unsurprising given the close relationship it already had with its real-world original. With both FOX and NBC recently expanding their sim racing offering, its no surprise to see Blake Broadcasting follow suite.
AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.
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