ESPN Gets Really Serious About Esports With New Division

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GS News Update: ESPN Sets Up New Esports Division

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Following its experimentation with broadcasting video game tournaments and the emergence of job listings that hinted at big plans for gaming, sports media giant ESPN today announced and launched an internal division dedicated to esports. Appropriately enough called "ESPN Esports," the new division is being pegged as a destination for "comprehensive coverage surrounding the world of competitive gaming."

ESPN's competitive gaming content will live on a special hub on ESPN's website. In a statement, ESPN.com editor-in-chief Chad Millman said you can expect ESPN's efforts in the gaming world to be of "the same level of quality content and journalism that users of ESPN.com have come to expect."

This will include "in-depth looks at the competitive gaming world and on-site reporting from the major tournaments." One of ESPN's highest-profile business writers, Darren Rovell, is working on esports content, alongside a founding staff that includes former GameSpot editor Rod "Slasher" Breslau.

ESPN esports also has a new logo (above) and an official Twitter account.

The formation of ESPN Esports follows a number of initiatives the company has undertaken in the competitive gaming space. Most recently, ESPN3 broadcast gameplay from tournaments at BlizzCon and Valve's The International. ESPN2 also aired the final of the "Heroes of the Dorm" tournament last year.

In addition, ESPN The Magazine released an "esports issue" in May 2015.

Whether or not ESPN's new gaming content gets airtime on SportsCenter or other ESPN TV shows remains to be seen.