TNL Take: I need to find a new phrase for I mentioned this in The Next Level on this date and it just happened.
MLBAM (Photo: MLBAM)
MLB Advanced Media will pay a minimum of $300 million to Riot Games through 2023 for the streaming rights for League of Legends.The deal is worth $50M a year till 2023.
Also on Dec 4 I said this on Twitter.
![@mannyanekal on Twitter (Photo: Twitter)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578230a5e4fcb5fc31994d3d/1482327496799-ESOSOD4WZGPLIOPY1RFW/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCNNlAffidAIchbrRWu14j4UqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIIIbLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKctnFfwcPbtx-RFhzIhFeSndUs3l-E1bGyhEQSYUNomZX2BMIKp_Izw37yRozKCKP2/image-asset.png)
@mannyanekal on Twitter (Photo: Twitter)
So how are they going to monetize?
Ads and Sponsorships.
Riot's Director of eSports Whalen Rozelle said on Reddit that while the service would continue to be free - you can guarantee there will be some premium paid options later - it would currently be monetized this way for now.
Some might say that's a ridiculous amount of money for a game that may not be that popular years from now.
Yes, you can't compare linear TV rights deals to digital but for perspective - NBC paid $1.2 Billion for the Rio Olympics.
How were those ratings?