Livestreaming platform giant Huya has signed a five-year media rights deal with China’s League of Legends operator TJ Sports.
This new agreement, first reported on by The Esports Observer, will lock in the company as the sole broadcaster and distributor of the LPL, LDL, and LPL All-Star Event in the country. The deal is worth $310 million and will last from 2021 to 2025, according to the company’s 20-F report. But the right to LPL VODs will only last three years in comparison.
This also means that Huya will be able to create various video content for the league, including promotional content, written pieces, replays, highlights, and news commentaries. It’s a huge move as the League esports scene continues to grow in popularity with the ongoing rise of the LPL’s star teams.
Last January, Huya became the exclusive distribution partner for both the LCS and LEC, while also maintaining the exclusive rights to broadcast the LCK through 2022. With this latest move, the platform has become the only platform in the country to feature all four major regions.
One of the only events that Huya doesn’t have exclusive rights to is the World Championship. Bilibili, a popular media-sharing site in China, secured exclusive broadcast rights for the tournament at the end of 2019 for $113 million.
Worlds is quite a long way off, however. But you can watch the upcoming 2021 Mid-Season Invitational when the tournament begins next week on Thursday, May 6.
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Source: https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/huya-signs-5-year-310-million-media-rights-deal-for-all-league-esports-in-china
