Cricket and Football are two of the most-watched sports in India. Streaming giants such as SonyLIV and Disney+ Hotstar have already understood that and they have managed to secure the streaming rights for various tournaments, game series, leagues, etc. to capitalise on this popularity. Disney+Hotstar has gone so far as to add more sports to capture the attention of the wider audience such as Golf, Formula 1, Kabaddi, Martial Arts, Athletics, Hockey and much more. But there is one sporting revenue that has gone untapped for too long – the streaming rights for export tournaments.
Okay, untapped is slightly overkill. Disney+ Hotstar actually has managed to nab the streaming rights for a few regional eSports tournaments for games such as CSGO, Clash Royale and Fifa 21, but they are not targeting the big, international games which have a huge following; games such as DOTA 2 and League of Legends. And if you are wondering where have heard these names before, that’s because DOTA 2 has a Netflix animated series called ‘DOTA: Dragon’s Blood’ and League of Legends is getting an animated series that will also premiere on Netflix. This goes to show that these games are popular enough to have internationally released shows about them.
The TI AKA The International is the biggest eSports tournament in the world – based on the Prize pool. The 10th edition of the DOTA 2 tournament will take place in the Avicii Stadium in Sweden which will begin starting from 15th August 2021. The 40 million USD prize pool competition has been available for streaming in the past on Twitch and YouTube. This is what the Indian streaming OTT platforms should capitalize on. There are at least a million Indian players who play the game and similar to how well the aforementioned DOTA 2 Netflix series did in India, this tournament too will get a good following in the country. And the best part, this tournament takes place every year. And multiple other DOTA 2 tournaments happen year-round. And that is only one game. Dozens of others are followed by Indians every day. And their popularity and endorsements will only grow,as the games start streaming through well-known OTT platforms.
The DOTA 2 tournament will start on August 15th 2021. Check it on Twitch, YouTube or within the DOTA 2 game itself (if you play it).