English Premier League to Host Esports Event Featuring Professional Football Stars

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many major sports leagues and events have been suspended or postponed, such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In light of this, various organizations have offered an esports alternative to keep fans engaged, with the NBA hosting its first-ever virtual tournament in partnership with 2K and NASCAR moving its races into a video game league. Now, also suspended, the English Premier League is following suit, launching its very own ePremier League Invitational tournament.

The virtual tournament will star numerous of the EPL’s professional players, who will all represent the team they play for, including Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling, Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tottenham Hotspur’s Moussa Sissoko, as well as musician Tom Grennan who will represent Manchester United. The tournament will run on an elimination mode based on a randomized draw, with two teams left for the finals.

All matches of the tournament will be aired on numerous platforms including Sky Sports, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and Twitter. Commencing April 21 and concluding April 25, the finals will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League in the U.K., and subsequently, rebroadcast on NBC Sports Network on April 26 in the U.S.

For those interested, head over to the EPL’s website for the full fixtures now.

Elsewhere in sports, Michael Jordan’s 1992 Olympics “Dream Team” jersey has sold for $216,000 USD.