Earlier this year, ABC announced a huge deal to bring the Overwatch League to bring its competition to its networks, including ABC, the ESPN app, Disney XP and more. And some eagle-eyed viewers have managed to catch some of this action on ABC over the weekend. A lot of people have been fans of this, as it’s giving the game the kind of exposure it truly deserves, allowing the Blizzard game to reach out to a mainstream audience it normally wouldn’t reach.
But on the flip side of that, some viewers are a little bit…flabbergasted. They’re wondering why they’re watching video game competition on the likes of ABC, instead of something like…fishing? Or bowling maybe? They’re used to more traditional sports, instead of something along the lines of esports. Some of the more interesting responses can be seen below, and…they’re interesting, to say the least.
@ABC won’t show the President’s parade on Fourth of July but they’ll broadcast kids playing Overwatch video games today.
— John Randall (@fresnophile) July 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/opheliafaerie/status/1147597579753934848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Uh, so, an Overwatch game is being broadcast on my ABC affiliate right now. When did this become a thing? pic.twitter.com/Cl90opGLjK
— Nick Farley (@nfreader) July 6, 2019
Why… Why is ABC… Is ABC *really* airing an Overwatch League match?
— Kevin Christopher Sullivan (@HeyImKevinSully) July 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/madskillsjay/status/1147587561621270528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Overwatch league on ABC live television.
— Soap Far Were Good (@SoapFarWereGood) July 6, 2019
The future is here. pic.twitter.com/SJEmMRClXJ
Rod “Slasher” Breslau also gathered up a few tweets from some of the “non-fans,” and, welp, they’re ugly, to say the least.
people are not happy esports was on instead of the NBA Summer League pic.twitter.com/bKAU6M6yrl
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) July 7, 2019
Regardless of some skepticism from traditional viewers, a lot of esports fans have expressed their support for seeing their favorite medium on traditional television, and it really is something.
Granted, it’s not the first example. A while back, ESPN2 aired some competitions from EVO on its network, and brought in quite a worthwhile audience as a result. And they’re likely to do so again this year, considering the huge draw that it’s gotten.
This deal is sure to continue, as the ratings have been pretty good on the ABC front thus far. So, sorry, fishing and bowling fans, we’re afraid you’ll have to put up with it for just a little bit longer…
The Overwatch League is currently in the midst of its latest season now. To learn more, check out the official page here!
