Post by Ztrl on May 9, 2006 4:45:50 GMT -5
DIRECTV, IGN Entertainment and Key Partners Join Forces to Create New Video Gaming Professional Sports League
Microsoft’s Xbox, Mountain Dew, Fox and Best Buy Round-out New Consortium to Launch the Championship Gaming Series in 2007; Three Gaming Tournaments to be Broadcast Exclusively on DIRECTV in 2006
Today, professional gaming took a giant leap forward. DIRECTV, Inc., the nation’s leading digital service provider and key partners are taking the professional gaming industry to the next level with the creation of a new video gaming professional sports league that will be the standard for the industry and redefine the consumer gaming experience.
Beginning in 2007, DIRECTV in conjunction with IGN Entertainment, Microsoft’s Xbox, Mountain Dew, Fox Interactive Media (FIM) and Best Buy, will launch The Championship Gaming Series (CGS), a new, professional video gaming league that will rollout televised league play using new technology that takes viewers inside the actual game competitions. The CGS concept is unique to the industry because it consists of an on-going series of competitions as opposed to the scattered gaming events that are currently available today. Throughout the season, teams across the country will battle each other for the coveted “Dew Cup.” Details about the Dew Cup will be unveiled by DIRECTV and Mountain Dew later this year, along with information about the unprecedented prize money that will be up for grabs in CGS tournaments.
Through broadcast and online media, the CGS will be available to the gaming community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year round. The CGS will leverage IGN Entertainment’s media assets, online video game tournament technology, as well as IGN’s close relationship with their more than 35 million gamers per month.
The CGS consortium will be led by DIRECTV President of Entertainment, David Hill, well-known for his broadcasting innovations at Fox Sports. The new group will also provide support for the development of the first of three DIRECTV gaming tournaments to be broadcast in July 2006, to DIRECTV’s more than 15 million customers nationwide.
“Today, we are making a commitment to the world of E-Sports that will bring the phenomenon of competitive gaming to a critical mass,” said Hill. “After researching the current state of E-Sports and identifying a great need for unity throughout the industry, we have gathered together an elite group of consumer, technology and media companies to create and televise the best gaming experience available in the country.”
Hill and his team, including Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment and Steven Roberts, vice president and general manager, DIRECTV Entertainment, will oversee the development of the CGS tournament that will place virtual cameras within the video games themselves and allow DIRECTV customers to experience video games in much the same manner as other professional sports. CGS tournaments will be broadcast nationwide exclusively on DIRECTV.
“This league will be unrivaled,” added Dale Strang, executive vice president and general manager of IGN Entertainment. “In short, the CGS will treat its players in the same manner as traditional sports: huge prize money, instant payouts and massive media coverage using traditional and new media.”
The three tournaments this year are considered a warm-up for the start of CGS league play in 2007, will also be covered on IGN’s web site, which will offer 24/7 exposure of the events. The first tournament will take place on July 21, 2006
Microsoft’s Xbox, Mountain Dew, Fox and Best Buy Round-out New Consortium to Launch the Championship Gaming Series in 2007; Three Gaming Tournaments to be Broadcast Exclusively on DIRECTV in 2006
Today, professional gaming took a giant leap forward. DIRECTV, Inc., the nation’s leading digital service provider and key partners are taking the professional gaming industry to the next level with the creation of a new video gaming professional sports league that will be the standard for the industry and redefine the consumer gaming experience.
Beginning in 2007, DIRECTV in conjunction with IGN Entertainment, Microsoft’s Xbox, Mountain Dew, Fox Interactive Media (FIM) and Best Buy, will launch The Championship Gaming Series (CGS), a new, professional video gaming league that will rollout televised league play using new technology that takes viewers inside the actual game competitions. The CGS concept is unique to the industry because it consists of an on-going series of competitions as opposed to the scattered gaming events that are currently available today. Throughout the season, teams across the country will battle each other for the coveted “Dew Cup.” Details about the Dew Cup will be unveiled by DIRECTV and Mountain Dew later this year, along with information about the unprecedented prize money that will be up for grabs in CGS tournaments.
Through broadcast and online media, the CGS will be available to the gaming community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year round. The CGS will leverage IGN Entertainment’s media assets, online video game tournament technology, as well as IGN’s close relationship with their more than 35 million gamers per month.
The CGS consortium will be led by DIRECTV President of Entertainment, David Hill, well-known for his broadcasting innovations at Fox Sports. The new group will also provide support for the development of the first of three DIRECTV gaming tournaments to be broadcast in July 2006, to DIRECTV’s more than 15 million customers nationwide.
“Today, we are making a commitment to the world of E-Sports that will bring the phenomenon of competitive gaming to a critical mass,” said Hill. “After researching the current state of E-Sports and identifying a great need for unity throughout the industry, we have gathered together an elite group of consumer, technology and media companies to create and televise the best gaming experience available in the country.”
Hill and his team, including Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment and Steven Roberts, vice president and general manager, DIRECTV Entertainment, will oversee the development of the CGS tournament that will place virtual cameras within the video games themselves and allow DIRECTV customers to experience video games in much the same manner as other professional sports. CGS tournaments will be broadcast nationwide exclusively on DIRECTV.
“This league will be unrivaled,” added Dale Strang, executive vice president and general manager of IGN Entertainment. “In short, the CGS will treat its players in the same manner as traditional sports: huge prize money, instant payouts and massive media coverage using traditional and new media.”
The three tournaments this year are considered a warm-up for the start of CGS league play in 2007, will also be covered on IGN’s web site, which will offer 24/7 exposure of the events. The first tournament will take place on July 21, 2006
