25 YOUR TAKE QYOU Media
human aspect of the sport and encourage audiences to root for an individual or team. Broadcasters can apply this same technique to esports in order to build an emotional connection with fans. There are plenty of esports teams and players that have a unique story with an appealing human-interest angle. For example, there’s the story of Amer “Miracle-” Al-barkawi. Al-barkawi is famous in the esports world for setting records on Dota 2 in his first year of gaming. However, it’s his humility and belief that he really isn’t one of the best players on Dota 2 that has endeared him to audiences and led to documentaries being made about his journey to success. MAINSTREAMING GEEKDOM Another way esports can be made TV- friendly is through broadcasters and sports organisations working together to turn it
into a global sport. FIFA and the NBA have already started expanding into the world of competitive gaming, which is helping to drive the genre’s growth outside of its core fan base. Introducing esports programmes that feature popular sports are helping broadcasters make the format more relevant to mainstream audiences. Esports has made a rapid transformation in recent years. It has shed the stigma of being a hobby for gaming addicts and is starting to be recognised as an exciting and growing sport in its own right. Any forward-thinking broadcaster wanting to reinvigorate their programming line-up to win over younger audiences, should be looking to include esports content in their services. However, in order for esports to succeed on TV, it needs broadcasters to adapt the format and narrative to make die hard gaming fans and mainstream audiences want to tune in.
Broadcasters need to adapt the esports format so it is TV friendly and relevant to a wider audience
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