Twitch leaps from virtual to physical sports with lucha libre wrestling

Twitch CEO Emmett Shear walks off stage after speaking at Moscone West in San Francisco two years ago. “Our involvement with “Triplemania XXV” marks a fun and fascinating milestone,” he said in a news release Wednesday. less Twitch CEO Emmett Shear walks off stage after speaking at Moscone West in San Francisco two years ago. “Our involvement with “Triplemania XXV” marks a fun and fascinating milestone,” he said in a news ... more Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Twitch leaps from virtual to physical sports with lucha libre wrestling 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Twitch, which made its name streaming video games and virtual e-sports contests, is now going to broadcast a physical sport — Mexican professional wrestling.

The Amazon-owned San Francisco company said Wednesday that it will live-stream Saturday’s “Triplemania XXV,” an annual tournament from Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, one of Mexico’s oldest wrestling promotion companies.

Lucha Libre Worldwide will have dedicated Twitch channels, one in Spanish and one in English, that will stream a preshow marathon starting Thursday afternoon. The program will be shown free.

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Lucha libre wrestlers, or luchadores, are known for their colorful masks and high-flying athletic moves. Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, founded in 1992, worked with TV producer Mark Burnett in 2014 to create “Lucha Underground,” a series shown in the U.S. on the El Rey network and now on Netflix.

Lucha Libre AAA has wrestlers like Johnny Mundo, Dr. Wagner Jr., Psycho Clown and Drago. With lucha libre “holding a special place in pop culture, our involvement with “Triplemania XXV” marks a fun and fascinating milestone,” Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said in a news release.

Twitch’s main audience remains video game fans, and it is credited with helping fuel the rise of e-sports. The company, which has 10 million daily active users, was bought by Amazon in 2014 for $1.1 billion.

Paul Verna, an eMarketer analyst, said Twitch’s decision to stream the wrestling match is part of Amazon’s broader push to move into live sports steaming.

“It makes sense, given Twitch’s demographic and overall profile,” he said, adding that the broader the audience that it can attract, “the more they can get people to sign onto Prime.”

Since 2015, Twitch has opened its streams to other types of programs, including cooking, music, painting and anime. Last year, Twitch also streamed the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Twitch spokesman Chase, who goes by only his first name, said “Triplemania XXV” will be Twitch’s first major physical sports event telecast, but he declined to say whether the company has similar plans for the future.

It won’t be the first time wrestling has appeared on Twitch. Wrestle Circus, an independent wrestling promotion company based in Austin, Texas, started its own Twitch channel and broadcast its “Dive Hard with a Vengeance” event June 24.

Wrestle Circus fans had encouraged the company to use Twitch as a streaming service, according to Chase. The interest in wrestling caught the attention of Twitch executives, who began to talk to other wrestling promoters, he said.

Andrew Cabalfin, an occasional Twitch user, said the company’s move into live sports streaming may entice him to sign onto Twitch more often.

“I’m an avid professional wrestling fan, so it will definitely get me on Twitch a little more,” the 32-year-old San Diego resident said. “But since Twitch is such a niche thing ... it was confusing when I saw pro wrestling — I didn’t think they would go that route.”

San Francisco Chronicle

staff writer Trisha Thadani contributed to this report.

Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny