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Today, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that it will add “Outstanding Esports Coverage” as one of its award categories for this year’s Sports Emmy Awards.
The award will recognize the craft behind the delivery of coverage and presentation of competitive, organized video gaming to the viewer during a championship or final event.
While this will be the first award category of its kind, esports entries have received nominations in the past as League of Legends was named the honoree in the “Outstanding Live Graphic Design” Category for in 2018.
“We are entering an exciting new chapter for the Sports Emmy Awards with the addition of an exclusive category dedicated to recognizing excellence within esports,” said Adam Sharp, president and CEO, NATAS. “The category, Outstanding Esports Coverage, illustrates the academy’s commitment to remain on the forefront of the ever-changing world of sports production.”
The global esports market has shown quick and significant growth including increased media coverage by many major networks such as ESPN and TBS. According to Newzoo, total revenue will hit $1.1B USD in 2019, representing a 26.7% growth rate compared to the $897.2M it generated in 2018.