The story behind the Madden '07 tournament street poster

We've entered a new era when you start to see gaming tournaments, like the third one down in the picture, advertised on the streets. It oozes dirty Fight Club competition, where if you fail some guy might cut off your thumb as a trophy. Whatever images these signs on the highway conjure up in your mind, we're sure they aren't the idea of legitimate business and competition. Alice from Wonderland snapped this photo on the way back home from the airport. Sounded interesting ... so we called the number.

First time calling the machine answered and told us that if we were calling about the Madden Tournament it was $40 in advance and $60 at the door. The message said we could go to their website, PrimeTimeGamers, to register. After going to the website we discover that shady highway sign actually hides a tournament sponsored by Gametap, TimeWarner Cable, Jackson Hewitt Tax Prep and, apparently, Electronic Arts. The tournament is part of the Ballers Club Alliance, run by "Tha Super," and are held at Nationals Sports Bar in Torrance, Calif. When we called the number again to double check some info a guy picked up the phone. After an awkward exchange he said, "I'm in the middle of a Halo tournament right now, can you call back at 9PM?"

Guess we'll find out more about the mysterious highway sign and the underground tournament with high-profile sponsors later.