EA Sports is adding a bit of a twist to its typical Madden Championship Series. On Friday, EA kicks off its inaugural The Yard Invitational.
Eight teams of two will battle it out in Madden NFL 21‘s six-on-six backyard football. Each squad will design its own jerseys and avatars before competing on a Pizza Hut virtual football field, exclusively created for the invitational.
March 5th & 6th | 6PM ET
16 Pro Players | 4 Captains
1 Champion 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ElT96tgogV
— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) March 4, 2021
The final four duos standing towards the end of the round-robin tournament will each team up with one of the four streamers/influencers serving as team captains on Saturday. These captains are Dockery, Kristopher London, Erin Ashley Simon, and YoBoyPizza. Afterwards, the four teams will participate in a three-versus-three, best-of-five series to determine who will capture the first ever ‘The Yard’ Invitational crown on March 6.
‘The Yard’ Invitational teams
- 818: Shay “Kiv” Kivlen and Wesley Gittens
- BND: Henry Leverette and Pavan Lakhat
- DRI/JCP: Drini Gjoka and Joel “JoelCP” Crooms-Porter
- ELI: Dwayne “CleffTheGod” and Jordan “Millz” Thompson
- EMB: Frank “Stiff” Sardoni Jr. and Tony “Young Tony” Calloway
- Tew Dewds: Eric “Problem” Wright and Kyle “KMaC” McAllister
- TNC: Jacob “Fancy” Worthington and Jacob “Jwall” Wallack
- YGNJ: Jonathan “Jonbeast” Marquez and Noah “Noahupnxt” Johnson
EA Sports is sort of betting on an esports event featuring its new arcade-style mode will keep its fans more engaged.
“The Madden NFL ‘The Yard’ Invitational is unlike anything we’ve ever done before,” said Madden NFL Competitive Gaming Commissioner, Matt Marcou, in a release. He continued, “It’s a glimpse into how we might experiment with this format for future Madden competitions.”
The new tournament will be broadcast on Madden’s YouTube and Twitch channels starting March 5 at 6 p.m. ET.
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