HOYTS Cinemas are teaming up with Riot to offer more Oceanic Pro League (OPL) viewing parties for 2016.
You’ll be able to watch more OPL matches on the big screen this year as HOYTS and Riot Games plan more OPL viewing parties.
In an announcement earlier this week, HOYTS have become an official sponsor of the Oceanic Pro League (OPL), and also come on board as the the official Oceania viewing party partner for all major League of Legends eSports events during 2016.
Damian Keogh, HOYTS Group CEO said, “HOYTS are excited to partner with League of Legends esports gaming to give our audiences a diversity of content, so they can experience more with their friends and family. The esports genre continues to grow within the Australian market, consumer demand is high and we want our guests to experience these events the best way possible, on the big screen.”
You may remember last year when HOYTS organised viewing parties in each state for the Oceanic Pro League Finals and for the IWCA series. The ongoing partnership looks to offer fans a way to meet up and enjoy the eSports atmosphere without having to travel interstate to the live event.
Mark Cox, Riot Games Oceania Marketing Director added, “We look forward to working with HOYTS and extending our esports viewing experience to the big screen for our players. Throughout the year, players will now be able to attend community cinema events across Australia and New Zealand to watch local and global esports broadcasts live amongst friends in an electric cinematic atmosphere that they wouldn’t necessarily experience at home.”
In October last year, 36 million unique viewers, plus over 1,500 HOYTS cinema goers across Oceania, watched the League of Legends World Championships final between SKT and Koo Tigers, held at Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena – a record-breaking high viewership for any esports event.
In Australia, eSports is expanding, helped with the addition of Oceanic servers across multiple competitive games. Fans are turning up in droves to watch event live in person or at special viewing parties.
In Oceania, Riot are making a solid effort to promote the local eSports scene and fans are getting in on the action, with over 10,000 attendees at the OPL Grand Final at Sydney’s Luna Park in August last year and 1,500 people watching the livestream at HOYTS.
To expand their viewing over last year, HOYTS will exclusively screen 9 key events on the League of Legends calendar live in HD via satellite feed. Confirmed events to date are as below, stay tuned for more info and confirmation on events to come:
- OPL Split 1 Final – April 5, tickets on sale Tuesday 29 March.
- International Wild Card Invitational (IWCI) – Date TBC
- Mid Seasonal Invitational (MSI) – Date TBC
- OPL Grand Final – August 13
- International Wild Card Qualifiers (IWCQ) – Date TBC
- World Championship Finals – Date TBC
