FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 25th, 2018

NBC SPORTS GROUP & FACEIT’S ANNUAL ESPORTS TOURNAMENT – UNIVERSAL OPEN ROCKET LEAGUE – CONTINUES WITH REGIONAL FINALS AT NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS THIS WEEKEND

East Regional Final on Saturday at NBC Sports Washington Studios, Northeast Regional Final on Sunday at SNY Studios

Coverage Streams Live on Twitch Both Days at 12 p.m. ET; NBC Sports Regional Networks to Televise Regional Finals Beginning Aug. 2

Grand Finals Hosted at NBC Sports Group International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn., Weekend of August 24-26

Brisk® Iced Tea to Serve as Presenting Sponsor, Brings Limited-Time Product to Shelves this Summer

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 25, 2018 – Universal Open Rocket League – NBC Sports Group and FACEIT’s annual esports tournament – continues this weekend with the East and Northeast Regional Finals at NBC Sports Washington and SNY studios, as the top Rocket League players in the world compete for a $100,000 prize pool.

Saturday’s East Regional Final will be held at NBC Sports Washington studios in Washington, D.C., while Sunday’s Northeast Regional Final will be held at SNY in New York. Coverage of the Regional Finals will stream live exclusively via Twitch on both days beginning at noon ET.

This marks the second consecutive season of Universal Open Rocket League, created by NBC Sports Group and industry-leading competitive gaming platform FACEIT, which is managing all operational phases of Universal Open Rocket League, from the open qualifiers to the Grand Finals. Rocket League, the sports-action hit with a community of more than 48 million players, developed and published by San Diego-based game studio, Psyonix, returns as the featured game for the Universal Open.

The East Regional Final is highlighted by the NRG2 team of JKnaps and GarrettG. JKnaps’ G2 squad won the 2017 Rocket League ELEAGUE Cup as well as the 2018 Season 5 NA RLCS Championship, while GarrettG is coming off a second-place finish at the RLCS Season 5 Grand Finals. The Northeast Regional Final will feature the WORD team of Torment and Fireburner. Torment finished in fourth at last month’s RLCS Grand Finals, while Fireburner was on GarrettG’s team which finished second.

Each Regional Final will feature four teams, and the winner from each will advance to the Grand Finals, which will take place at NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn., on Aug. 24-26.

In addition to live streaming coverage on Twitch, NBC Sports Regional Networks will present 60-minute telecasts of this weekend’s East and Northeast Regional Finals. Following is the telecast schedule across NBC Sports Regional Networks:

EAST REGIONAL FINAL
 DATE NETWORK TIME (Local)
 Thur., Aug. 2 NBC Sports Northwest 11 a.m.
  NBC Sports Washington 7 p.m.
  NBC Sports Chicago 11 p.m.
  NBC Sports California 11 p.m.
 Fri., Aug. 3 NBC Sports Philadelphia 7 p.m.
  NBC Sports Bay Area 9 p.m.
 Sat., Aug. 4 NBC Sports Boston 12 p.m.
 Sun., Aug. 5 SNY 5 p.m.

 

NORTHEAST REGIONAL FINAL
 DATE NETWORK TIME (Local)
 Fri., Aug. 3 NBC Sports California 12 a.m.
  NBC Sports Northwest 11 a.m.
  NBC Sports Philadelphia 8 p.m.
  NBC Sports Bay Area 10 p.m.
  NBC Sports Chicago 11 p.m.
 Fri., Aug. 3 NBC Sports Philadelphia 7 p.m.
 Sun., Aug 5 NBC Sports Boston 11 a.m.
  SNY 6 p.m.
  NBC Sports Washington 10 p.m.

 

Veteran esports host and analyst Rachel “Seltzer” Quirico will anchor NBC Sports’ Universal Open Rocket League coverage throughout the Regional Finals and Grand Finals. She entered esports as a competitive gamer in 2006 and made the pivot to on-camera presenting in 2008, and has emceed numerous tournaments and international championships for StarCraft 2, League of Legends, CounterStrike, and Overwatch.

Rocket League commentators Caleb “WavePunk” Simmons, Mike “Quinn Lobdell” Behrouzi, Joey “JorbyPls” Ahrens and James “JamesBot” Villar all return for the second consecutive season of Universal Open Rocket League to provide play-by-play and analysis throughout the Regional Finals and Grand Finals. Larry Ridley (reporter) will provide player interviews throughout the tournament.


BRISK® ICED TEA TO SERVE AS PRESENTING SPONSOR, BRINGS LIMITED-TIME PRODUCT TO SHELVES THIS SUMMER

Brisk, the iced tea brand known for its bold flavors, will serve as a presenting sponsor of Universal Open Rocket League. The brand is also bringing Brisk Dual Force Guava Ginger Limeade exclusively to participating 7-Eleven® stores this summer. This offering mixes the sweet fruit flavor of guava limeade with a bold twist of ginger to pack a powerful flavor punch. Brisk will debut a commercial featuring popular Rocket League casters Caleb “WavePunk” Simmons and Mike “Quinn Lobdell” Behrouzi, and will also bring fans a special behind-the-scenes look at their favorite casters on air during the tournament.

UniversalOpen.gg is the home for Universal Open Rocket League and provides the latest information on tournament details, schedule, brackets, highlights, and much more. Follow @UniversalOpen on Twitter as well for up-to-the-minute information on everything Universal Open Rocket League.


ABOUT NBC SPORTS GROUP

When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and NBC Sports Digital, which includes NBCSports.com, NBCOlympics.com, GolfChannel.com, the digital assets of the NBC Sports Regional Networks, Rotoworld, the NBC Sports Talk franchise, multiple apps, and two transactional sports businesses, GolfNow and SportsEngine. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, The R&A, PGA of America, Churchill Downs, Premier League, Tour de France, French Open, IndyCar and many more.


ABOUT FACEIT

FACEIT is the leading competitive platform for online multiplayer games, with more than 9 million users logging in a total of over 12 million online game sessions each month. FACEIT allows players to easily play in tournaments and leagues for virtual and real-world prizes through automated tournament management and competitive gaming technology. For developers, FACEIT’s advanced software development kit (SDK) allows game creators to easily integrate user-friendly competitive gaming and tournaments into their titles to allow gamers to take part in competitive online games at all skill levels. esports organizers, players and communities use FACEIT to create and manage online competitions. For more information on FACEIT, please visit www.faceit.com.


ABOUT PSYONIX

Based in San Diego, CA, Psyonix is a critically-acclaimed independent video game developer and leading experts in Unreal Engine technology. For more than 15 years, the studio has been a driving force behind some of the most successful games in the industry, including Gears of WarMass Effect 3XCOM: Enemy UnknownBulletstormUnreal Tournament IIIUnreal Tournament 2004, and the award-winning Sports-Action hit, Rocket League®.


ABOUT ROCKET LEAGUE
®

Winner or nominee of more than 150 “Game of the Year” awards, Rocket League is one of the most critically-acclaimed sports games of our generation. Boasting a community of more than 48 million players, Rocket League is a high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem with easy-to-understand controls and fluid, physics-driven competition. Available on Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, Windows PC, Mac, and SteamOS via Steam, Rocket League includes more than 100 billion possible customization combinations, a fully-featured offline season mode, multiple game types, casual and competitive online matches, and special “Mutators” that let you change the rules entirely.

To learn more about Rocket League, please visit www.RocketLeague.com, “Like” it on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter @RocketLeague for all the latest developer updates and news.

Rocket League, Psyonix, and all related marks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Psyonix Inc.© 2015-2018 Psyonix Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.


ABOUT PEPSICO

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $63 billion in net revenue in 2017, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose – our fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe that continuously improving the products we sell, operating responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the world enable PepsiCo to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.


ABOUT PEPSI LIPTON TEA PARTNERSHIP

The Pepsi Lipton Tea partnership is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Unilever. The partnership includes a complete portfolio of ready- to-drink iced teas for every occasion, including Lipton Iced Tea, Pure Leaf Iced Tea and Brisk Iced Tea.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–