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ESPN will broadcast a FIFA 17 esports championship opposite tomorrow's Super Bowl 51, under a new partnership involving Electronic Arts and the sports network.
The Paris Regional Final of the FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championship, which was staged today and carried at noon on ESPN3 and Spanish-language ESPN Deportes, will be rebroadcast on Sunday on the main ESPN network. That is a first for an esports event.
Previous esports programming on ESPN, such as The International grand championship of Dota 2, had aired on subsidiary networks like ESPN2 or the online-only ESPN3. The college "Heroes of the Dorm" competition for Heroes of the Storm recently ended its partnership with ESPN in favor of a broadcast through Facebook's streaming capabilities. That season begins with group competition on Feb. 15.
The FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championship rebroadcast will air from 6 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday; kickoff of Super Bowl 51, broadcast on Fox, is around 6:30 p.m.
