MTV India Planning Daily Coverage Of Esports League UCypher

MTV India is "planning daily coverage of the recently unveiled" esports league UCypher, which "begins its first season in April," according to Rebecca Hawkes of RAPID TV NEWS. The esports league -- founded by media entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala -- will also be "broadcast online on YouTube, YouTube Gaming and twitch.tv." According to a study by Jupiter Research, by '21, revenues from esports are "expected to reach" $3.5B, up from the $1.8B forecast for '17. The first season of the biannual league run by USports will have six teams, "featuring 66 top professional gamers from India who will be fighting" for 5M rupees ($76,300) in prize money over a 37-day period. USports partnered with publisher Valve Corp. to use its "popular" esports games, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2 for the tournament. Screwvala was founder & CEO of Indian media group UTV, which "included UTV Software, Bloomberg UTV and UTV Motion Pictures." The company was acquired in Jan. '12 (RAPID TV NEWS, 3/20).