AT&T to Deliver North America’s First 5G-enabled Esports Event Live Stream Coverage

Latest Example of How AT&T is Delivering the Next Generation of Sports Entertainment and Fan Engagement

AT&T’s leadership in 5G experiences continues with North America’s first 5G-enabled live coverage of an esports event during DreamHack Atlanta Nov. 15-17 at the DreamHack Open CS:GO tournament played onsite and streamed live. Fans watching the stream will get access to the event like never before, from the perspective of a fan, the on-air talent and a professional cameraperson moving more freely through the event thanks to 5G smartphones and 5G wireless network technology.

“What really matters with 5G is what you do with it, and that’s why we’re putting it in people’s hands and working with industry leaders like DreamHack and ESL to create first-of-their-kind experiences that thrill fans even more,” says Shiz Suzuki, assistant vice president, Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing for AT&T Communications. “Through our relationships across the gaming and esports ecosystem, we’re able to show how 5G will eventually enable content creators to capture higher-quality live-streaming video at a faster rate, get it to the end user more quickly and create new fan and event experiences.”

Throughout the weekend, fans watching the DreamHack CS Twitch channel live stream of the tournament will see content delivered by AT&T using a deployable dedicated 5G network provided by Ericsson at the Georgia World Congress Center. AT&T and 5G logos on screen will indicate when that content appears. It’s a taste of what’s possible as 5G technology gets adopted more widely, and just one of the ways that AT&T is elevating fans’ experiences for DreamHack Atlanta.

"We are very excited to work with AT&T to innovate our CS:GO broadcast during DreamHack Atlanta", said DreamHack Chief Product Officer, Michael Van Driel. "For this first event, fans at home will be able to get a unique insight both backstage and from the seats at the onsite event thanks to AT&T’s 5G technology, and we're excited to continue to build on this and leverage 5G technology to evolve esports broadcasting."

The 5G-enabled live coverage during DreamHack builds on 5G-enabled innovations AT&T delivered for the sports world earlier this year.

• In July, our experience at NBA Summer League showed that using 5G to simplify broadcast production is possible. There, we delivered a successful live stream of a basketball game using 5G smartphones courtside to capture and stream content with TV networks through a super-fast 5G connection.
• In September, we introduced four 5G activations at AT&T Stadium – the nation’s first 5G-enabled stadium – that put fans at the center of the action throughout the 2019-20 football season. These experiences use 5G to connect fans as they interact with 3-D versions of star players (a.k.a. “Pose with the Pros” that’s been seen by more than 15 million social media viewers) as well as live stats overlaid on the field using the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and more.

Few others are as well-equipped as AT&T to help deliver the future of 5G and to help transform the gaming and esports world. Our AT&T Foundry in Palo Alto has explored how edge computing with 5G will enable the transformation in how video game titles – and the hardware that enables users to play them – are designed and delivered. In addition to the minds behind the 5G-enabled user experiences mentioned above, AT&T’s talent includes Warner Bros. Games – a leader in the games industry across all game platforms and mobile devices – ELEAGUE, and our AT&T Communications Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing team who elevates fans’ experiences through its portfolio that includes esports agreements with Cloud9, the NBA 2K League, ESL and DreamHack.