EA has revealed its schedule for the madden NFL 20 Championship Series and confirmed extending SNICKERS and Pizza Hut as the official partners for the upcoming event.
Esports and Mainstream Sports in the NFL Madden 20
Continuing to bring traditional sports and electronic sports closer together, EA has released information about the upcoming Madden NFL 20 Championship Series which will see a number of skilled gamers pit against one another, representing their favorite NFL franchises.
To set the event in motion, EA is hosting the Madden NFL 20 Classic which will take place on August 31 and September 1 at the Esports Stadium Arlington in Texas, one of America’s largest esports venues to date. The event feeds into the Club Championship event, which will be arriving on December 18 – 21 and will be part of the NFL Playoffs for the Madden NFL 20 Challenge that takes place from January 30 to February 1, 2020.
The Challenge coincides with the Super Bowl whereas the Madden Bowl will coincide with the NFL Draft Weekend scheduled for April 23 – 25. With this in mind, EA are tying up the entire series of events with the most popular mainstream sports in the U.S. presently.
A New Sponsor for Esports NFL
Sponsorship deals for EA’s esports events are not exactly new. In the case of the NFL, SNICKERS and Pizza Hut are the official sponsors for the upcoming season, extending their existing partnerships from the 19 Season.
The Pizza Hut Stadium will play host to all major events during the competition under the aegis of EA. The more important thing here is that according to EA, the signing with the Pizza Hut Stadium is the first official digital rights for such a venue in esports history.
Commenting on the developments and the evolution of EA’s sports-focused titles, Madden NFL Competitive Gaming Commissioner Matt Marcou had the following to say:
Last season was a monumental year for the Madden NFL Championship Series as millions competed and we achieved record viewership.
Mr. Marcou affirmed that everyone involved in hosting the process was looking to “accelerate player and spectator growth” and timing all events based on the NFL calendar. There was a correlation between football and esports fans, he concluded.
The players attending the event will qualify based on skill alone. The NFL Madden has a more open format than the F1 Esports Series, which recently announced their Chinese debut. Another EA title that has been driving significant results is FIFA 19, with the game continuing to build a solid viewership and interest.
The NFL Esports Shooting
The one true event that has marred the NFL Madden 19 so far was the mass shooting that took place in Jacksonville who opened fire at fellow players following his relegation out of the race.
The incident brought up the question of whether esports events were secure enough in the first place, but up until that incident, nobody had really targeted competitive video gaming gigs.
Following the shoot, hosts pooled their efforts and vowed better security at such events. Two players lost their lives in the 2018 shooting, which was one of the deepest wounds inflicted on the gaming community at all.