MLS and FOX to host eMLS Tournament Special

American football league Major League Soccer has joined forces with eMLS players to host the eMLS Tournament Special presented by Coca-Cola and PlayStation.

The five-week tournament will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes, beginning on April 19th.

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The tournament will see 12 MLS franchises participate, with a professional footballer partnering with a professional FIFA player across four weeks of competition. The winners from each week will advance to the final week, where the champions will be crowned.

Camilo Durana, Vice President of Properties and Events for MLS, spoke on the event in a release: “The eMLS Tournament Special represents the spirit of MLS Unites by entertaining fans and giving back to our communities. We’re thrilled many of the league’s top players are joining our eMLS participants to compete and also provide benefit for those on the front lines.

“We are also thankful to FOX Sports and all of our partners for their collaboration on the innovative series that will be both fun to watch and make a difference.”

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Once each week of the eMLS Tournament Special has wrapped up, both MLS and FOX Sports will make a donation to Feeding America. They will also support Food Banks Canada through the initiative.

FOX Sports has turned to esports on several occasions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to continue to air live events. It has taken on the entire eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series and the World of Outlaws – both of which utilise the iRacing platform.

Esports Insider says: It’s not surprising to see the likes of MLS turning to eMLS, which had already been established, to keep its name relevant during the downtime. It’s cool that FOX Sports is continuing to pick up esports events, especially looking outside of the sim racing scene, and we can’t imagine that this will be the last of such developments.

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