Major League Soccer has launched a new FIFA 20 esports tournament that will broadcast on FS1 and Fox Deportes. The eMLS Tournament Special will feature players from both MLS and eMLS, the league’s organized gaming counterpart.
Out of the 26 MLS clubs, 16 will be represented in the tournament. Each team will be represented by one player from its current roster as well as one player from its eMLS affiliate, meaning 32 players in total will compete in the single-elimination tournament. After each match, both MLS and Fox Sports will make a donation to Feeding America on behalf of the winning team. MLS will also donate to Food Banks Canada. Matches will last eight minutes of actual gameplay.
“We’ve built this eMLS infrastructure over the last three years and it was something that we could turn on pretty quickly. In looking at the void in live sports, we thought using the strength of MLS but adding eMLS players would help us reach a much broader audience,” said Camilo Durana, MLS SVP of properties and events. Matches will not broadcast live.
Three matches will be played each Sunday over the next five weeks. Matches will consist of two legs, with the MLS players playing 1-on-1 in the first leg then the eMLS players competing head-to-head in the second led. The best aggregate score, meaning the team with most combined goals between the two legs of a match, will move on. A championship match will broadcast May 17. Each episode on FS1 will feature 26 different audio and video feeds.
Players will compete remotely from their homes and play on PlayStation 4. Notable participants include LA Galaxy striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, Orlando City winger Nani, and New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long. Both MLS and eMLS will be mic’d up for broadcast and able to communicate with each other. Fox Sports analysts Stu Holden, Rachel Bonnetta, Rodolfo Landeros, and former eMLS All-Star Mike LaBelle will provide commentary and conduct postgame interviews with players.
Matches will also stream on the Fox Sports app. Sponsors of the tournament include Coca-Cola, PlayStation, Cheez-It, Pringles, and Scuf Gaming. MLS suspended its season March 12 due to the coronavirus. The eMLS debuted in 2018 and played tournaments in Philadelphia and Portland this year. This season’s eMLS Cup was scheduled to take place March 21 at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, but was postponed indefinitely after the festival was canceled.
