Video Platform Bilibili Wins Exclusive Broadcasting Rights to League of Legends in China

Bilibili, a Chinese video sharing platform, has confirmed on December 6 that the company has reached a strategic partnership agreement with the world’s famous PC game League of Legends.

The deal granted Bilibili the rights to broadcast the next three Championship events that will take place between 2020 to 2022.

According to a local news outlet the Beijing News, it cost Bilibili 800 million yuan ($113 million) to outbid live-streaming platforms such as Kuaishou, Douyu and Huya. Bilibili declined to confirm the price to Pandaily.

“Gaming is one of the top content categories on Bilibili – of which e-sports is the most active,” Bilibili told Pandaily.

China is the world’s largest gaming market, according to GlobalNewswire, Accounting for about 25% of the global market share. That figure is still rising.

Esports is also a rapidly growing industry. The number of the viewers of the League of Legends World Championship almost doubled over that of last year. The game is most popular with younger generations born in the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

“It is a trend that cannot be ignored,” Bilibili added.

As one of China’s largest online gaming and video communities, Bilibili has over 1.8 million gaming content creators, according to Bilibili.

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