UK pay-television broadcaster BT Sport has made its first move into the esports sector by acquiring rights to the Fifa Ultimate Team Championship Series.
BT Sport will broadcast coverage of the four remaining Fifa 17 major events, which take place in April and May.
The first regional final, for North America, will take place in Vancouver on April 8, with the Asia-Pacific event to be held in Singapore on April 22. The European regional final will be staged in Madrid on May 6 before Berlin hosts the Fifa 17 Ultimate Team Championship Final on May 20-21.
The events will mark the first time competitive Fifa 17 gaming will be broadcast on television in the UK and Ireland. The series is for Xbox One and PlayStation4 players.
BT Sport has struck the deal with EA Sports, developer of Fifa 17 and organiser of the Fifa Ultimate Team Championship Series.
Todd Sitrin, senior vice-president and general manager of the competitive gaming division at EA, said: “There’s a profound opportunity for competitive gaming to achieve mainstream success and the key to accomplishing this is accessibility.”