Is the NBA back? Sort of. Basketball returns to ESPN via 2K Tourney featuring pros
With mainstream sports all but canceled throughout the world because of the coronavirus, fans are thirsty for any form of competition. One can only watch so many Kobe Bryant highlights or replays of classic NBA games.
Eventually, players will want pro sports in any shape or form. Enter the NBA 2K Tourney, which is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN starting April 3 to April 12. What makes this esports tournament different all the others? To put simply, it’s the names involved. The tournament will feature current NBA players competing against each other in a single-elimination tournament. According to the NBA Players Association news release, the winner will be declared the ultimate NBA 2K20 champion and will select a charity to receive a “$100,000 donation in support of coronavirus relief efforts.”
Streaming and competitive esports have made strides expanding its audience over the past few years. Drake boosted Ninja’s popularity on Twitch, when the two played “Fornite” together. EVO, the preeminent fighting game tournament, has always been a draw and getting bigger each year. Blizzard has made headway with the “Overwatch League.” Its Grand Finals matchup between the San Francisco Shock and Vancouver Titans was broadcast on ABC.
Although these contests are popular in their own communities, they haven’t broken through to the mainstream. That’s where the NBA 2K Tourney could be different. First off, fans already know the competitors. Kevin Durant, Trae Young, Hassan Whiteside, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Andre Drummond, Zach LaVine, Montrezl Harrell, Damantas Sabonis, Deandre Ayton, DeMarcus Cousins, Michael Porter Jr., Rui Hachimura, Patrick Beverley, Harrison Barnes and Derrick Jones Jr. are all well-known enough among fans of the sport. These players come in with built-in fan bases who are interested in what they do.
The second is the current state pro sports around the world. There’s barely any sporting events outside of Belarus. Seeing NBA players compete in basketball virtually is probably the closest thing fans will get to the pro sport for a while. That means there’s a captive audience and esports will reach an audience they haven’t before.
The third element going for the NBA 2K Tourney is that it’s basketball. Fans know the rules. They know the concepts of the sport such as a pick and roll and the alley-oop. It’s understandable to a wider crowd than say “League of Legends” or “Overwatch,” which has concepts such as lanes and C9ing. These are terms that are foreign to anyone aside from hard-core esports fans.
Depending on how ESPN and 2K Sports pulls this off, it can be a launching point to bring esports to a bigger audience. The tournament lets competitors choose from eight of today’s NBA teams. Each team can only be used once so there’s strategy involved. Players may not want to use title contenders such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Clippers at first. They may want to save those more talented teams for future matchups. If people are willing to watch competitive video game basketball, they could be open to team-based shooters or fighting games. The NBA 2K Tourney could open the door for other esports waiting to become the next big thing.
The first NBA 2K Tourney game will be broadcast on from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. April 3 on ESPN and from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on ESPN 2. It will be on ESPN 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 5. The quarterfinals will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 7. The semifinals and finals will wrap everything up on April 11.