SuperSport has announced that GINX eSports TV will be launching on DStv on 1 May.
The announcement marks an expansion from SuperSport’s casual flirtation with limited eSports broadcast over the last year or so. In March 2016, SuperSport covered IEM World Championship and have since gone on to broadcast Eleague.
GINX will be available to DStv Access, Family, Compact, Extra and Premium customers, as well as to Compact, Extra and Premium customers on the DStv Now.
With the addition of GINX, gamers and esports fans will get ongoing access to various live matches, shows and other content for the first time in South Africa. GINX will be available to stream on DStv Now and SuperSport.com from 1 May, with the deal also including “selected GINX eSports TV content being simulcast on the SuperSport channels.”
SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane said: “The deal with GINX is a massive leap forward and signals our intention to embrace the newest sport out there. There is a real buzz around eSports and we want to be part of that.”
Reading into the announcement, that means you will not be able to watch the channel 24 hours a day via your decoder. According to the announcement: “Live blocks will be broadcast on DStv with Mondays and Fridays featuring live show ‘The Bridge’ and Saturdays and Sundays featuring five-hour broadcast slots.”
But… what about the local scene?
It seems that local coverage (or local events and tournaments) will eventually feature but when that will be exactly is not detailed.
CEO of GINX eSports TV, Michiel Bakker commented on their expansion to South Africa: “We’re delighted to bring GINX eSports TV to South Africa. It’s an exciting time to be launching in a country with such a rapidly growing eSports scene. GINX eSports TV will provide South African fans with the biggest and best events from around the globe. We also look forward to working closely with MultiChoice and SuperSport to broadcast local eSports events.”
GINX has previously covered the Call of Duty World League and given the 2016 ACGL CWL event at rAge maybe there’s a very nice and neat little fit. Of course, there are always the even bigger money events like DGL Masters and Mettlestate’s R1 million CS:GO event. Whether any of these can find even 15 minutes on the new eSports channel for South Africa will remain to be seen.
Otherwise, what’s the point? We could all just go and watch eSports on YouTube or Twitch…
