Turner Sports’ ELEAGUE is being pitted against the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and Super Bowl LI for a sports Emmy in Outstanding Studio Design and Art Direction. Yeah, no big deal.
In 2016, ELEAGUE began airing its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments on TBS from its studio in Atlanta, Georgia. With traditional sports experience backing ELEAGUE—Turner has been broadcasting sports since the late 1980s—the esports league polished the industry for broadcast television. And set design and art direction there is no exception: ELEAGUE has some of the most impressive sets in esports.
It’s got tough competition to beat out to be honored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. ELEAGUE is certainly more of a niche broadcast than its competitors: Games of the XXXI Olympiad, sports talkshow Mike & Mike, Super Bowl LI, and UEFA Euro 2016.
“It has been another outstanding year for the sports television industry and the quality of this year’s record number of entries continues to raise the bar of what sports programming can be,” said Steve Ulrich, senior vice president of the Sports Emmy Awards.
Nominees will be honored at the awards show on May 9 in New York.
ELEAGUE’s last CS:GO event was held in September, with Astralis winning its first major title in the game. The ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational started this past weekend and will wrap up on May 26.