Cover-Credits:
Valve and LoLEsports
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) announced the nominees for the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards on 11th April. Nominations were announced in 47 categories including Outstanding Esports Coverage, Live Special and Live Series, four Documentary categories, Journalism, Public Service Content and Outstanding Studio Host among others. Several esports tournaments from titles like League of Legends (Worlds 2022), Dota 2 (The International 11), Valorant (Valorant Champions 2022), and others have been nominated for the Sports Emmys 2023 in the category of Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on 22nd May at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, New York, USA.
Outstanding Esports Coverage at the Sports Emmy Awards 2023
The organizers of the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards announced the list of nominations in the sports categories, including the category "Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage.”
Under this category, a total of five tournaments hosted by different organizers have been nominated. They are as follows:
BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022
2022 Call of Duty League Championship Weekend Grand Finals: Atlanta Faze vs Los Angeles Thieves
The International 11 Finals: Team Secret vs Tundra Esports
League of Legends Worlds 2022 Final: T1 vs DRX
Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Champions 2022 Grand Final: OpTic vs LOUD
Notably, two of Riot Games’ titles – League of Legends and Valorant – have been nominated for this award. Of all the matches mentioned above, the Worlds 2022 finals between T1 and DRX had the highest peak viewership at 51,47,701. Following this, The International 11 Finals between Team Secret and Tundra Esports had a peak viewership of 17,51,086. The third-highest peak viewership was recorded by the Valorant Champions 2022 Grand Final match between OpTic and LOUD at 15,05,804.
(All the viewership stats have been sourced by Esports Charts)
Last year, in 2022, Dota 2's The International 10 was awarded the Sports Emmy for Most Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage. Earlier, during the 42nd Sports Emmy Awards, the coverage of the League of Legends Worlds 2021 finals between Damwon Kia and Suning won the award.
The Sports Emmy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) to recognize excellence in sports presentations, including sports-related series, live coverage of sporting events, and best sports announcers.
