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Hi all, there was a recent discussion on Reddit about emailing ESPN to convince them to explore broadcasting Starcraft II.
Here's the reddit post for those interested. Linky Link.
Because of that (And with the help of TL) I've made a form letter that we can send on to ESPN, G4TV, Spike, etc.
Edit: Two versions, ESPN has a 1,000 character limit on their Contact Us page so I made a much shorter version.
ESPN: http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/contact?lang=EN&country=united states
I am writing to urge you to consider Starcraft II matches as a programming option. Starcraft is a real-time strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Starcraft sold 1.5 million copies its first two days of sale making it the fastest selling strategy game of all time.
Starcraft is considered a national pastime in South Korea and is growing in North America.
On websites such as Reddit and Team Liquid hundreds of thousands meet daily to discuss strategy. YouTube broadcasts of Starcraft are incredibly popular. “HuskyStarcraft” has 300,000 subscribers and 100,000,000 combined views.
The Global Starcraft League in Korea has a monthly prize pool of $170,000 and is sponsored by the likes of Intel, Sony Ericsson and Powerade. A series starring the legendary Starcraft player "Boxer" received over 2 million viewers.
I strongly urge ESPN to consider broadcasting Starcraft II. This is a tremendous opportunity, eSports are a growing scene worldwide and Starcraft leads the way.
G4 TV http://g4tv.com/g4/about/contactg4/index.html
To Whom it May Concern,
I am writing to urge you to consider Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty matches as a programming option on G4 TV. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is a military science-fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment. Starcraft II sold over 1.5 million copies during its first two days of sale making it the fastest selling strategy game of all time. During the first month of release that number increased to 3 million sales.
With the release of Starcraft II, e-Sports is continuing to grow in South Korea and in North America. Starcraft II is considered a national pastime in South Korea and is considered the most successful e-Sport in the world.
On websites such as Reddit and Team Liquid hundreds of thousands of people meet daily to discuss the game, strategy, and share replays. A vibrant community of casters has already formed providing excitement and analysis of replays on YouTube and Ustream. YouTube broadcasts of Starcraft are among the most popular videos on the website. As of December 2010 “HuskyStarcraft” has over 300,000 subscribers and more than 100,000,000 combined views.
The GOMTV Global Starcraft II League, a tournament in Korea has a monthly prize pool of $170,000 and is sponsored by the likes of Intel, Sony Ericsson and Gatorade. A recent series starring the legendary Starcraft player "Boxer" received over 2 million viewers worldwide. Here in North America Major League Gaming (MLG) recently added Starcraft II to their pro circuit.
I strongly urge G4 TV to consider broadcasting Starcraft II. There is a tremendous opportunity for G4 TV. e-Sports are a growing scene worldwide and Starcraft II, as the largest and newest e-Sport, is leading the way.
Sincerely,
___________
Spike: ??? Their website is a mess and half the contact us pages don't work, if anybody could find a link or email please post it.
EDIT: If you don't think it will fly you're probably right but I don't care. ESPN broadcasts some real shit, spelling bees, professional fishing, magic the gathering, etc during off-peak hours. We're not looking to take down football (yet) just get a spot in the off-peak hours.
Either help us and contribute so we can finish this email and mass-spam ESPN or stop bitching and stay out of this thread.
TLDR: Copy paste the above and send it to ESPN, G4TV, Spike, etc!
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Folks are going to be rude to you, but you obviously have sincere intentions. Nicely done.
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On December 03 2010 05:30 sammler wrote:
Folks are going to be rude to you, but you obviously have sincere intentions. Nicely done.
Obviously a long shot but it's worth a try. If half the people on TL and Reddit emailed ESPN that'd at least show there's a market for this kind of thing. Hell, if Day9 could mention it on his stream that'd be a gazillion emails too.
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This is a very good idea, I'll edit with some of those numbers you're looking for.
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"korea korea korea korea korea korea korea".
they will tell you 2 show it in korea.
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as if 7,000$ prize pools are interesting when ESPN is used to covering athletes with over
$100 million. And 10-20 thousand viewers is nothing compared to to the hundred of thousands of viewers they get for individual regular season games, let alone playoffs which yield millions of internationally interested fans. Its a wasted effort to contact ESPN, you'd be better off asking G4TV to have a more dedicated segment, but even still if everything is on the internet for Esports why do you want to include a media outlet that isnt declining in popularity? The people who want to follow sc2, can and do, so trying to force it into the mainstream is futile.
Another good idea would be getting college media outlets to cover the CSL, which probably has the draw of a chess tournament, and a debate team.
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Not to be rude, but there seems to be a typo in the following paragraph:
"Starcraft II’s predecessor “Brood War” is the most successful e-Sport in the world and is considered a national past time in Korea. With the release of Starcraft II e-Sports continue to grow in Korea and are growing at a grassroots level in North America."
"Past time" should read "pass time." Also, if you're not going to put Starcraft II's name in quotes, it doesn't make sense to put Brood War in quotes. Pick one approach and stick to it.
Overall, I applaud your intent and wish you luck. I suspect you will need it.
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it doesnt have to be a prime time slot to begin with. i mean if theyre going to show "proffesional fishing", why not starcraft.
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I think they would just reply: "with football and mma we profit 1000 times that"
If Blizzard wants this game to be successful, let them talk to broadcasters, not our problem.
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to much slang like replays or e-sports. if someone does not know what it means its like reading chinese. you must explain or cut it. i like your effort. =D
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On December 03 2010 05:35 Bonham wrote:
Not to be rude, but there seems to be a typo in the following paragraph:
"Starcraft II’s predecessor “Brood War” is the most successful e-Sport in the world and is considered a national past time in Korea. With the release of Starcraft II e-Sports continue to grow in Korea and are growing at a grassroots level in North America."
"Past time" should read "pass time." Also, if you're not going to put Starcraft II's name in quotes, it doesn't make sense to put Brood War in quotes. Pick one approach and stick to it.
Exactly why I posted. Please continue to pick it apart.
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On December 03 2010 05:35 Bonham wrote:
Not to be rude, but there seems to be a typo in the following paragraph:
"Starcraft II’s predecessor “Brood War” is the most successful e-Sport in the world and is considered a national past time in Korea. With the release of Starcraft II e-Sports continue to grow in Korea and are growing at a grassroots level in North America."
"Past time" should read "pass time." Also, if you're not going to put Starcraft II's name in quotes, it doesn't make sense to put Brood War in quotes. Pick one approach and stick to it.
Overall, I applaud your intent and wish you luck. I suspect you will need it.
Uhh actually "Past time" -> "pastime".
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I think it should be sent to G4. They might be able to fit in SC2 between cops and cheaters.
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MLG is owned by ESPN if i remember correctly.
[edit] Nevermind it was just a contract to broadcast the 2008 circuit.
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On December 03 2010 05:36 Minzy wrote:
it doesnt have to be a prime time slot to begin with. i mean if theyre going to show "proffesional fishing", why not starcraft.
Exactly. We're not looking to take football's time slot we're looking to get in ahead of professional fishing, hot dog eating competitions, and strong man competitions.
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also the niche that ESPN is looking to fill isnt exactly filled by esports, im sure they arent lacking the 16-30 year old males.
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Theyre sponsored by Powerade, not Gaterade irrc.
I'm not sure how much an email will do, but it's something. I'd like to see SC2 on ESPN.
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Do you honestly believe ESPN will be remotely interested in promoting some niche RTS game that draws at most some 20-40 thousand online viewers?
ESPN viewership is in the millions, and I doubt advertisers would be interested in promoting SC2.
Lets be happy with our little corner of the internet and help ensure that it stays alive for years to come. Expanding our E-Sports universe is going to take baby steps not giant leaps of faith.
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Team Liquid should create their own TV station. TLTV has a nice ring to it.
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On December 03 2010 05:41 gozima wrote:
Do you honestly believe ESPN will be remotely interested in promoting some niche RTS game that draws at most some 20-40 thousand online viewers?
ESPN viewership is in the millions, and I doubt advertisers would be interested in promoting SC2.
Lets be happy with our little corner of the internet and help ensure that it stays alive for years to come. Expanding our E-Sports universe is going to take baby steps not giant leaps of faith.
Yeah man, totally.
Dream small, it always gets you places.
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+ Show Spoiler +I'm hoping the dots convey the sarcasm.
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EPT
