DirecTV Inc. will help to form a video-gaming professional-sports league.
The direct-broadcast satellite provider is teaming up with IGN Entertainment Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s “Xbox,” PepsiCo Inc.’s Mountain Dew, Fox Interactive Media and Best Buy Co. Inc. on the Championship Gaming Series, which will roll out televised league play using new technology that takes viewers inside the actual game competitions.
DirecTV president of entertainment David Hill will lead the CGS consortium.
Teams across the country will battle each other for the "Dew Cup." The CGS will be available to the gaming community full-time, year-round.
The first of three tournaments -- considered warm-ups for the start of CGS league play in 2007 -- will take place July 21.
“Today, we are making a commitment to the world of e-sports that will bring the phenomenon of competitive gaming to a critical mass," Hill said in a prepared statement.
"After researching the current state of e-sports and identifying a great need for unity throughout the industry, we have gathered together an elite group of consumer, technology and media companies to create and televise the best gaming experience available in the country,” he added.
