FACEIT has partnered with Sky Sports to broadcast the final matches from the UK’s first CSGO Major in London.
The partnership marks the first time Sky Sports has ever broadcast competitive CSGO on TV (though Sky Two aired a different show a while back), and reflects the profile of the prestigious FACEIT London Major.
Sky will air multiple programmes – content will include a one-hour documentary outlining the road to the Major and the live broadcast of the finals on skysports.com, and Sky Sports’ YouTube and Facebook channels, from September 20th to 23rd.
A highlights programme capturing the most exciting plays from the finals will also air after the event at 11pm on Sky Two.
It’s not the first time Sky has aired esports content – or a CSGO tournament for that matter. Sky broadcast the Intel Extreme Masters CSGO tournament a couple of years back, and since has experimented with FIFA content and more.
“We’re delighted to be able to bring the London finals to a whole new audience. With a sold-out SEE Wembley Arena and some of the biggest names in the game, we’re sure our viewers will love it.”
Georgie Faulkner, Sky Sports
Top teams from around the world will compete for a share of the $1m prize pool in the Major. The finals will take place at the SSE Arena in Wembley and will welcome 10,000 spectators to the arena for each of the tournament’s four days of playoffs and the grand final. Tickets have sold out.
“Bringing the FACEIT London Major to an entirely new audience is extremely exciting for us,” said Michele Attisani, CBO & Co-Founder of FACEIT. “We have been working closely with the team at Sky to ensure all of their content is both accessible and entertaining.”
Georgie Faulkner, Sky Sports’ Head of Multi Sports, added: “The FACEIT Major is one of the world’s biggest esports events, and we’re delighted to be able to bring the London finals to a whole new audience. With a sold-out SEE Wembley Arena and some of the biggest names in the game, we’re sure our viewers will love it.”
You can watch the live broadcast from SkySports.com, or Sky Sports’ YouTube and Facebook channels.
FACEIT offers $10 Twitch Premium Pass for the Major
The news comes as FACEIT partners with Twitch to release a Premium Pass for the FACEIT London Major, which aims to offer an interactive experience for fans.
Fans will be able to pay $9.99 for a one-time subscription to the FACEIT London Major Twitch channel. This will include 11 channels with interactive stats and custom extensions powered by GenVid, an interactive HUD, player POV cameras, exclusive chat emojis and chat channels and two weeks of FACEIT Premium.
It will also give customers access to exclusive VOD content released throughout the Major, including ehind-the-scenes Legends player interviews, Major time machine films produced by Sodiac and the return of Sounds of CSGO.
The Premium Pass, which was created in coordination with broadcast partners GenVid and StatsHelix, encompasses the Legends and Champions Stages of the FACEIT London Major running until September 23rd and unlocks access to the tournament and new features for hardcore CSGO fans exclusively onwww.twitch.tv/faceittv.
“Partnering with FACEIT to provide a Premium Pass for the London Major reflects our ongoing efforts to increase the interactivity of esports,” said Michael Aragon, Twitch’s SVP of Content.
Fans can also link their FACEIT.com accounts to their Twitch accounts to win drops throughout the Major (this is open to all users – not just those with the Premium Pass).
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
