Turner Sports‘ esports property, ELEAGUE, is set to host a Street Fighter V tournament. After two successful seasons of CS:GO, including a Valve sponsored Major, they’re expanding their esports profile to the Fighting Game Community.
The tournament, featuring a $250,000 (£199,000) prize pot, will contain 32 of the top global Street Fighter players. The tournament will kick off over March 27th-30th, where the 32 competitors will play in preliminary rounds. Half of the players will be the top 16 of those in the Capcom Pro Tour, with the other 16 specially invited by Capcom.
The main tournament, featuring 24 teams, will be held every Friday between 7th April to 12th May, with six players competing per week. The tournament will be broadcast on TBS and Twitch at 10pm (EST). The preliminary rounds will be broadcast over Twitch, with a recap show broadcast on TBS on 31st March at 10pm (EST).
The playoffs will be held on 26th May, all on Twitch, with the final stages broadcast on TBS from 10pm (EST).
Craig Barry, Executive VP and Chief Content Officer at Turner Sports, said: “Street Fighter has a rich history and an extremely deep and passionate fan base and we’re thrilled to further diversify our ELEAGUE portfolio with this exciting esports title. We look forward to bringing a new experience to ELEAGUE and collaborating with Capcom to capture the authenticity of the live event competition while telling a rich narrative surrounding the game, its characters and the players.”
Kiichiro Urata, Chief Executive Officer at Capcom U.S.A., Inc. added: “Our fighting games and esports initiatives are extremely important sectors of our business and partnering with ELEAGUE provides us with an excellent opportunity to deliver the excitement of live Street Fighter V competition to a wider audience.
“Teaming up with one of the leaders of live event experiences is another step forward for the Street Fighter brand, and we can’t wait for newcomers and long-time fans to see our beloved franchise presented in a new and unique way.”
In Richard Lewis’ announcement article, he stated that it’s not the end for CS:GO as “we will be coming back to Counter-Strike after our achievements with two seasons and the major World Championships under our belt”.