Studio Maincast announced the end of ESL competitions’ coverage in Russian. The company plans to focus on the development of Ukrainian-language broadcasting and the formation of the local community.
In the official statement of Maincast, it is stated that the studio signed the waiver of rights to the Russian-language broadcasts of the tournaments from ESL. Still, at the same time, it retains 90% of the rights to the official Ukrainian-language broadcasts.
We are grateful to our partners, the ESL company, which is the organizer of the largest esports tournaments in the world, for helping us achieve our goal — the development of Ukrainian esports and the formation of a local community. We will continue to invest even more resources in Ukrainian-language broadcasts to popularize and increase the demand for Ukrainian content every year.Andriy Grigoriev, CEO of Maincast
Vitaliy v1lat Volochai does not see the point in further coverage of the championships in Russian and spends the company's resources on it.
In recent months, we have been developing the Ukrainian-language segment so actively that we do not have enough resources. And we want to make more Ukrainian-language content and do what we do better. <...>
We believe that it is not expedient to spend any more resources on Russian-language broadcasts, we have conveyed our idea to this audience, and there is no point in communicating with it further. We have fulfilled our mission. <...>Vitaliy v1lat Volochai, co-founder of Maincast
Waiver of rights or still sale?
Paragon Events, sponsored by Russian bookmaker Winline, became the new owner of the rights to the Russian-language broadcasts by ESL. However, there is no official information about the details of the transaction and in what format it took place: a direct transaction between Maincast and Paragon Events, or Maincast's waiver of rights for compensation from ESL, and the subsequent sale of the rights by the tournament operator Paragon Events.
The managing partner of the PARI betting company Dmytro Sergiev did not stand aside and tell how much the deal could cost for Paragon Events.
About $12 million per year. This is my assessment of the value of this transaction.Dmytro Sergiev, managing partner of PARI
Most likely, Paragon Events bought the broadcast rights directly from ESL, not from Maincast. In this case, the tournament operator must pay the penalty for breaking the contract with the Ukrainian company, valid until 2027.
Thus, having left the responsibilities of conducting Russian-language broadcasts, Maincast can fully enter the Ukrainian market with new cases for potential sponsors and partners. Such a confluence of circumstances will only benefit the company and Ukrainian esports.
Comments