After three months of searching, ESPN has found an editor to helm its new esports section, sources close to the candidate tell the Daily Dot.
The worldwide leader in sports coverage posted the job listing on Sept. 3. And, after a long process of interviews with some of the biggest names in esports, someone has been hired.
Taking up the editor position is streaming website Azubu’s managing editor Darin Kwilinski. He left the company last week ahead of the job opportunity with ESPN.
Today is my final day at @AzubuTV. From dank memes to dank people, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the last two years.
— Darin @ ESPN Esports (@darinjk2) December 11, 2015
Azubu management sent an email to its entire staff on Friday, informing them of Kwilinski’s departure. In the same email the company stated that Kwilinski will be leading ESPN’s esports initiative in the coming year.
Kwilinski was the managing editor for Azubu’s content team for roughly two years. Before that he was the editor-in-chief at Leaguepedia—a League of Legends competitive wiki—and a news editor at now-closed publication onGamers, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive, Inc.
It’s uncertain whether Kwilinski will be moving to Bristol, Connecticut, where ESPN is headquartered.
ESPN made headlines with the esports editor job posting—mainly because former staff members had made public derogatory statements about the industry and players.
But, over the past year, ESPN has been ramping up its esports coverage.
Last year ESPN broadcast the 2014 League of Legends World Championship on ESPN2 and its website streaming platform ESPN3. Earlier this year it broadcast Blizzard’s collegiate Heroes of the Storm tournament, Heroes of the Dorm, on television as well. In June, it published the first esports edition of ESPN: The Magazine, featuring articles on League of Legends, Call of Duty, and more.
With other media companies like Turner expanding into the field with its new tournament ELEAGUE (which will broadcast Counter-Strike competition live on TBS next year), it makes perfect sense for ESPN to start a dedicated esports department to take the growing industry head on.
