NBC Sports Group announced today that it will launch a new esports tournament this summer that will utilise FACEIT’s competitive gaming platform, and numerous NBCUniversal and Comcast regional, national and international assets, to allow gamers of all skill levels to compete in a 2v2 Rocket League tournament for a $100,000 prize pool.
The tournament will be hosted on FACEIT, where the preliminary rounds will be played. The game of choice for NBC’s launch into esports is Rocket League, the fast-paced sports game which effectively partners flying cars with football (soccer).
This 2v2 Rocket League tournament will begin on the FACEIT platform with regional online qualifiers, which will be divided into competitions for all eight NBC Sports Regional Networks, as well as additional American and European open qualifying regions. Competitors in the Regional Sport Network (“RSN”) regions will then move on to in-studio regional final competitions at select RSNs.
The tournament will culminate in a two-day Grand Finals with coverage of the Regional and Grand Finals across a variety of NBCUniversal and Comcast national and international platforms. In total, more than 40 hours of event coverage will be presented across live-streaming, video-on-demand, and linear platforms.
“NBCUniversal’s and Comcast’s unparalleled multi-platform portfolio has allowed us to create a first-of-its-kind tournament that will be authentic to the emerging world of esports,” said Rob Simmelkjaer, Senior Vice President, NBC Sports Ventures. “It all begins with NBC Sports Regional Networks, allowing us to super-serve esports fans the same way we serve traditional sports fans. We are also excited to be adding Telemundo Deportes, given that the growing Spanish-language audience is an engaged, committed group of gamers. Further, there will be an international component with the broadcast of the Grand Finals on Syfy in the UK, Germany, Australia and multiple countries across Latin America. Our partnership with FACEIT and Psyonix will provide a unique opportunity for gamers across the United States and Europe to participate in Rocket League at the highest level, and reach more competitors than ever before.”
“NBC Sports has a long legacy of bringing engaging sport action and storylines to viewers. FACEIT is proud to work alongside NBC Sports and Psyonix to provide the Rocket League community a unique opportunity to be involved and engaged from a grassroots level,” said Michele Attisani, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of FACEIT. “By combining traditional sports and esports expertise, we can create an exciting new viewing experience for sports fans, esports fans and all fans of competitive action. This will build on the excellent work Psyonix has done to date establishing Rocket League as a premier community and competitive title.”
“Our Rocket League esports ecosystem is thriving and we are excited to expand to the NBC Sports audience,” said Josh Watson, Head of Esports, Psyonix. “Rocket League is an easy-to-understand game, which makes it the perfect introduction to esports for fans of all backgrounds and ages.”
“The NBC Regional Sports Networks bring the best in local sports to our fans day in and day out, and we’re excited that the fast-growing world of esports are now a part of that mission,” said David Preschlack, President, NBC Sports Regional Networks, and NBC Sports Group Platform and Content Strategy. “We look forward to engaging our fans in a whole new way that allows them to get in the esports game, and to bring a whole new generation of fans to our platforms as well.”
Esports Insider says: Big and exciting moves from NBC as they bring 2v2 Rocket League to television. We’re huge fans of Rocket League and feels the choice of title is great considering it’s easy to understand yet still brings the hype of more “hardcore” esports titles. 2v2 is different, so it’ll be interesting to see how the competitive play pans out compared to the more traditional gameplay we see in the RLCS.