If we can’t watch NBA players on the court, at least we can watch them control their digital selves and teammates in a live basketball tournament.
ESPN plans to broadcast an NBA 2K tournament with only NBA players at the controllers, a story broken by Chris Haynes at Yahoo Sports. The hope is to have it air Friday, with the players competing from their homes around the country.The NBA is planning a players-only NBA 2K tournament that will feature the league’s sharpest video gamers and it will be broadcast on ESPN, league sources told Yahoo Sports...
Players competing against their peers in the comfort of their own homes could offer a distraction for fans who are missing the game and a little competition.
Sources: Clarity, it will be a 16-player NBA 2K tournament lasting 10 days. 4-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins among the participants. https://t.co/0V1LfU9pnI
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 31, 2020
Esports are incredibly popular and growing as a spectator sport, both in person and on Twitch and other platforms. With there being a pent-up demand for sports programming, this seems a smart attempt to draw eyeballs. Even people who are non-esports viewers could tune in just to check it out, because it’s that or rewatching Tiger King.
You can bet that if it works, we will see a lot more of it in the future.
(Inside baseball note: I would love to see the emails/texts flying around ESPN about Yahoo breaking a story about what is coming in their network.)