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Esports Entertainment Marketing: Movies, TV, Music and Gaming Fifa

BT Sport secures Fifa 17 broadcast rights from EA Sports

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

February 23, 2017 | 2 min read

BT Sport has acknowledged the growing interest around digital football by signing up the broadcast rights to the Fifa 17 Ultimate Team Championship (FUT) Series.

Fifa 17

Fifa 17

Based around the UK's best-selling video game Fifa, the FUT Champions mode, sees players assemble teams of their favourite players and apply the required tactics to topple their rivals.

The coverage will supplement BT Sport's Premier League, Champions League and Europa League coverage, helping lend credibility to one of the less-viewed eSports titles by introducing it to a new audience in which there will be a degree of crossover.

EA Sports is looking to grow the title's eSports credentials, greatly upping prize pots and working closer with teams and leagues across the world.

BT Sport will broadcast the remaining four EA Fifa Majors – the Americas Regional Final in Vancouver (22 April), European Regional Final in Madrid (6 May), Rest of the World Regional Final (21 April) in Vancouver and the Fifa 17 Ultimate Team Championship Final in Berlin (21 and 22 May).

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “This is yet another example of live innovation from BT Sport. Competitive interactive football gaming is a rapidly growing industry and I’m delighted that BT Sport is now able to showcase it for the first time ever in the UK.”

Todd Sitrin, senior vice president and general manager of competitive gaming Division, EA, added: “There’s a profound opportunity for competitive gaming to achieve mainstream success and the key to accomplishing this is accessibility. We’re thrilled to be partnering with BT Sport to make our exciting competitions for EA Sports Fifa, the most popular video game in the UK, available across the nation as we move the industry forward.”

Esports Entertainment Marketing: Movies, TV, Music and Gaming Fifa

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