A partnership for exclusive broadcasting rights has been reached between Major League Gaming (MLG.TV) and CEVO. Season 7 of the CEVO Pro League, featuring a prize pool of $135,000, will have its LAN Finals at the MLG arena, July 24-26. In what is being hailed as a step forward for the Counter-Strike gaming community,

The partnership will allow CEVO to move from being a domestic league in North America to the European region. Leagues will run from professional at the top all the way down to a free-to-play open league at the very bottom. The professional competition will mirror its North American counterpart, with 12 teams battling it out in a round robin regular season before a playoff phases determines which four qualify for the live final (Daily Dot, 3/9).

Games will move from Twitch.TV to MLG.TV exclusively. With CS:GO competitive viewership growing worldwide, the CEVO and MLG.tv partnership is looking to capitalize on an already strong working relationship shown by collaboration at the recent XGames Aspen tournament. This is seen by some as mostly a boost to the North American scene, as well as an attempt to better align with ESEA and Faceit.

An expanding prize pool bodes well for building more stability in the CS:GO gaming scene. However, the disparity between NA and EU teams must be addressed before more sustained growth can occur. While, moving the finals to a permanent location will help boost returns from investment in the MLG.tv Columbus Arena last year.

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Alex Fletcher is founder & president at eSports Group, where he helps customers meet their eSports advisory & consulting needs. When Alex isn’t glued to a screen, he spends time with his wife, their two dogs, and pretends to learn Polish. Feel free to stalk him on Twitter – @FletchUnleashed