benchmob's cryptic ass tweet got me thinkin'
Activision Blizzard took the YouTube deal not because it was the best deal but because it was the least risky media rights deal they had available.
why?
because Twitch never offered a new or renegotiated deal to ActiBlizz in the first place.
I believe that people in charge of the league probably understood that Twitch is the best place for the League in regards to viewership but because of the need for injections of capital to keep the League in a much more steady position considering the cost of running not just OWL but also the first season of CDL they took the YouTube deal because it gave them capital balanced against the belief that a move to YouTube would do the least damage to viewership numbers.
TL;DR Twitch thought they got robbed for season 1 and 2 so now we're screwed.