Rooter, the largest Indian game streaming platform, announced yesterday that it had acquired the media rights for all of Skyesports’ IPs, in one of the largest media rights deals in esports, for the next one year. Skyesports founded in 2018 is the biggest esports tournament organizer in South Asia that conducts competitions under its self-owned IPs and is commonly labeled as the ‘Twitch of India.’
Last year, Skyesports generated more than 200 million viewers across all its tournaments and achieved a peak concurrent viewership record of 221,000 during the Skyesports Championship 3.0 BGMI Finals. In January, Rooter raised $25 million in a series A round. Rooter in December 2021, signed up cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal as a content creator on Rooter’s platform.
With the media deal, Skyesports’ original competitions will be broadcasted exclusively on Rooter and the tournaments will be streamed in several languages which include Hindi, English, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Telugu. Viewers who tune into Skyesports’ competitions on Rooter will also be given some exclusive rewards.
Rooter already has a substantial user base in the country with more than 35 million downloads on the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. This deal will enable the platform to further tap into the esports market by leveraging Skyespots’ large viewer base. Rooter will also be producing additional content based on Skyesports’ IPs throughout the year to offer more entertainment to fans.
Commenting on this strategic agreement, Dipesh Agarwal, Co-Founder and COO, Rooter, said, “Skyesports is renowned for hosting some of the major esports tournaments in the country. Teaming up with a platform redefining Indian esports, this comes as a landmark deal for both entities. Rooter is the fastest growing gaming platform in India and we will help Skyesports reach millions of fans who will get the best esports content exclusively on Rooter. We also look forward to working with Shiva and the rest of the team to provide multiple engagement opportunities for fans with esports teams on Rooter’s platform.”
Speaking on the deal, Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO, Skyesports said: “Our goal has always been to make Skyesports’ IPs, which have been homegrown in India, more accessible. I am sure that our esports content will feel right at home on Rooter’s platform. Additionally, by distributing the media rights, we are empowering Rooter to implement strategies to further engage our already large audience. We look forward to closely working with them throughout the year to enhance the watching experience for the viewers while building esports from the grassroots level and launching more premium IPs.”