FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 9th, 2018

REGISTRATION OPENS TODAY FOR THE 2018 NHL GAMING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™, THE NHL’S FIRST-EVER INTERNATIONAL ESPORTS TOURNAMENT

From the National Hockey League:

Tournament Winner To Be Awarded Championship Trophy and Share of $100K

On Tuesday, June 19, at Esports Arena in Las Vegas

 

NEW YORK/TORONTO (March 9, 2018) – We’re on a mission and looking for the best EA SPORTS™ NHL® 18 gamers. Bragging rights, a $100K cash prize pool, tickets to the 2018 NHL Awards and capturing the Championship trophy are all up for grabs when the National Hockey League crowns its first-ever eSports champion in June.

Today, the NHL announced that registration for the 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship, an eSports bracket-style tournament, is now open. Players can register at https://fce.gg/NHL.

The 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship is a venture with NHL global broadcast partners NBC Sports, Sportsnet and Viasat. Each broadcaster will host a Regional event and produce unique content throughout the various stages of the competition. The content will be available on NHL digital platforms, the digital platforms of our broadcast partners, and on NHL’s Twitch channel, www.twitch.tv/nhlFACEIT, the Official Tournament Platform for the competition, will host and administer the tournament where players can follow the bracket.

The 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship is supported by NHL corporate global partners Bridgestone and Honda, U.S. partners Dunkin’ Donuts and GEICO with PepsiCo Beverages Canada and Scotiabank in Canada.

“The NHL has one of the youngest and most digitally-engaged fan bases in all of sports, many of whom are EA SPORTS NHL® 18 players,” said Keith Wachtel, NHL Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. “The 2018 NHL Gaming World Championshiptournament provides us with an opportunity to evaluate new and innovative fan engagement opportunities in the eSports sector. Along with our global broadcasters and marketing partners, we are committed to investing in the next generation of NHL fans, and introducing the gaming community to hockey is a unique and exciting way.”

Over four consecutive weekends starting March 24, registered players will showcase their skills in the single-elimination Qualifier tournaments. The Qualifiers be open to players residing in Canada, the European Union and the United States.

Players may register and compete in each four online Qualifiers scheduled for their region. However, players who already have secured a spot in the Regional Finals may not participate in any further Qualifiers for any region.

All games will be played in standard competitive ‘Online Versus 1-vs-1 Mode’ within NHL® 18. For each region, two Qualifiers will be played on Xbox® One and two Qualifiers will be played on PlayStation®4. Each Qualifier will produce a winner and runner up who will each advance to the applicable Regional Final. The PS4 console will be the platform for the Regional Finals and World Final.

At the conclusion of all of the Qualifiers, eight players from each region will travel to a Regional Final, comprised of a double-elimination, in-person tournament. The European Finalists will compete at Viasat studios in Stockholm, Sweden, on Sunday, May 6. Canadian Regional Finalists will compete at Sportsnet studios in Toronto, Ont., on Friday, May 11. U.S. Regional Finalists will compete at NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn., on Sunday, May 20.

A winner and runner-up from each Regional Final will then advance to the 2018 NHL Gaming Final – a round-robin style tournament – hosted by Allied Esports at Esports Arena at Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19. The top two gamers will emerge from the round robin to face-off in a best-of-three Grand Final to determine the 2018 NHL Gaming World Champion. The winner will be presented with the Championship Trophy, receive a cash prize and take part in the 2018 NHL Awards. Full rules, regulations and prize pool allocations can be found at https://fce.gg/NHL.

Fans can follow the conversation using social hashtag #NHLGWC and by watching matches streamed on the various digital channels. Schedules and results will be posted in near real-time to the NHL’s page on FACEIT.

To learn more, visit, www.NHL.com/Gaming.