MLS eSports league's first tournament streams on Twitch this April
The eMLS' first competition will be at PAX East.
Last month, Major League Soccer became the latest US sports association to create its own eSports league, eMLS, which will exclusively run EA Sports' game FIFA 18. We knew its first-ever event would be a tournament (the eMLS Cup) at the upcoming PAX East where 19 players, each representing an MLS team, will compete to qualify for the league's global playoffs. But today, the nascent eMLS has laid out how the tournament will go down -- and where folks at home can stream it.
The 19 players will be split into two conferences -- ten clubs in the Eastern Conference and nine in the Western. Each competitor will create their own squad of 11 starting players, with seven more on the bench and five in reserve. The catch? Three MLS players have to be on the field at all times, including two from the club that the competitor is representing. Naturally.
The eMLS Cup will start on Thursday, April 5th for preliminary rounds, with the top eight players from each conference progressing to seeded knockout rounds on Saturday before the Cup Final on Sunday. The weekend matches will be held on the PAX Arena Main Stage, but those staying at home can watch it on the PaxArena Twitch channel. The final, however, will also be broadcast on MLS channels, including its website.
The eMLS Cup finalists will earn spots on the EA Sports FIFA 18 Global Series Playoffs, and the top 32 teams there will progress to the FIFA eWorld Cup in August. That, of course, is where the FIFA 18 World Champion will be crowned.
