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[bigkrev]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ive-software-partnering-nba-2k-esports-league

The NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, makers of the mega-popular NBA 2K video game, are partnering to form a first of its kind esports league centered around the NBA 2K series, officials from both companies told ESPN.com Wednesday.

The NBA 2K eLeague, tentatively set to begin play in 2018, eventually will feature 30 NBA 2K teams, each owned by one of the real-life NBA franchises, according to NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two. The teams, comprised of five human players, will play out a five-month season that mirrors the real NBA season. It will proceed through a regular season of head-to-head games, to playoffs and a championship matchup.

Silver declined to detail the NBA's initial level of investment in the league, but it's clear both companies view it as a huge potential money-maker.

"The financial consequences could be substantial," Zelnick said.

Specifics on schedule, structure, and even a salary cap still are hazy. All 30 NBA franchises are interested in participating, but some might not be ready when the eLeague tips, Silver said. The NBA hopes at least half its franchises will have teams in the eLeague by 2018, Silver said.

The NBA will hold an initial draft of esports players, and each NBA franchise will pick five to play as its eLeague team. They will draw salaries, train and essentially treat the NBA 2K eLeague as full-time jobs during the season.

Real NBA players will not be represented as avatars in the NBA 2K games, Silver and Zelnick said. Competitors will design on-screen avatars based on their own stylistic preferences.

The league will stage events, sell tickets for fans, create merchandise, sign sponsors and negotiate licensing rights so that fans can watch games remotely, Silver and Zelnick said.

Crazy commitment by one of the biggest sports leagues in the world. Many NBA teams have been buying e-sports teams, so it seems like a natural fit

 

[Madness]

Yup. Philadelphia 76'ers had bought Apex and Dignitas eSports teams. NBA involvement goes back a long way. Gilbert Arenas once sponsored Final Boss years ago for Halo etc. Will make EA try and push the same. NBA actively participating in a 2K eSports league would be huge with marketing and money.

 

[jjonez18]

Man, that sounds cool. Salaries, practices and everything.

 

[Hey Im Patrick]

Wow, this is huge.

 

[Mumford]

Man, that sounds cool. Salaries, practices and everything.

That does sound really cool; hence why I hope they find a use for this for an actual e-sports game, and not NBA 2K. I say this as someone who loves NBA 2K as much as the next guy, but it really isn't cut out to be an "e-sports" ready game yet; iboth the online infrastructure and the actual game are far too janky, in my opinion. I hope that this means that they'll take steps to rectify that for 2k18 and beyond, but I'm honestly not too confident in that happening given how long it's taken them to previously improve their network and such. I hope I'm proven wrong though, this does indeed sound really cool.

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

but who will produce the workout playlist

 

[CSX]

Damn we getting that esports cheese

 

[Temp_User]

I just hope we get a nice mix of archetypes for each teams starting five. Seeing Stretch 4's and lockdown defenders for SG's in every team is going to be boring.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Really amazing that it's happening like this.

At the same time is there a big audience for watching NBA 2K matches?

 

[Squire]

This and the Overwatch League are pretty huge gains for eSports.

 

[Pastry]

NBA continues to be the best professional sports league in the world.

 

[Exokell]

GSW vs GSW

 

[newsguy]

Charles Oakley choking out gamers will be the reason to stay tuned.

 

[CrimsonGun]

NBA continues to be the best professional sports league in the world.

Most progressive that's for sure.

 

[FZZ]

This is dope as fuck

NBA shits on NFL in every manner of the imagination

can't wait for it to be the number 1 sport in the country

B)

 

[sixteen-bit]

Rick Fox gonna get in on this?

 

[manzoman96]

This is a real cool idea. The league seems very interested in esports since the 76ers already bought team dignitas.

So who's gonna head up team NeoGAF?

 

[killatopak]

NBA esports is just a bad idea imo.

How do you even balance teams? You nerf lebron, harden and curry?


Edit: ignore me. I just read the part where nba players won't be available as avatars.

 

[shira]

So no crooked refs, rules enforced and no teams tanking for better draft picks?

Sounds better than the NBA.

 

[captmcblack]

If only the NBA wasn't rigged, it would just be shitting on all sports leagues from the highest heights.

Seriously though, awesome foresight from the NBA - which consistently is ahead of the game. I wonder if that's going to make NBA2K series get all the typical trappings of esports and high-tier competitive games - metagame/game theory, gameplay balance stuff, etc.

 

[jon bones]

Woah, this is dope.

 

[Smokey]

If only the NBA wasn't rigged, it would just be shitting on all sports leagues from the highest heights.

Seriously though, awesome foresight from the NBA - which consistently is ahead of the game. I wonder if that's going to make NBA2K series get all the typical trappings of esports and high-tier competitive games - metagame/game theory, gameplay balance stuff, etc.

This already happens in the ProAm mode.

 

[wowzors]

I don't understand how the player seleciton works, it says that they will not use NBA players but make their own with stylistic choices, how does the ratings/skills work?

 

[Nirolak]

So on the one hand I think this is a good idea.

On the other hand, running it for only 5 months a year is an issue. The popular eSports are run year-round, and these people need jobs when not on the NBA season unless they're getting paid very well.

That said, I imagine they intend to run the league in the months the NBA isn't running.

 

[EPaul]

I wonder who the lakers are buying

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Can you tank in esports?

 

[Falchion]

That's awesome, wonder who will be lucky enough to get drafted by the Warriors and Cavs.

 

[Rembrandt]

That's huge.

Seems like esports are about to get even bigger.

 

[Nirolak]

Rick Fox gonna get in on this?

They're owned by the NBA teams, not independent e-Sports organizations.

He did just get into Vain Glory today though.

 

[10k]

Curious to see who the raptors will support. Likely a team with lousy defense.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

that's pretty cool. is 2k a big esports game though?

 

[Parham]

Guess I need to post this again since there are some people who seem to have already forgotten after 2 page. Wow, how the mind slips!

"Allegedly"

Opening admitting to sexually assaulting someone(then banning anyone who called him out for it)

Posting revenge porn with their real full names then another admin(a now jailed pedophile) printed the photos and jacked off over them and sent it to the boyfriend.

You're right, how can we even know if he's guilty or not? HMMMM

Also:

 

[Glix]

Very cool idea. I hope it works.

 

[Damn Silly]

Certainly sounds like an interesting idea.

 

[Nirolak]

that's pretty cool. is 2k a big esports game though?

How big is the esports community for NBA, FIFA, and Madden?

None of the sports games are, unless we're counting things like Rocket League, which is part of why they want to do this.

 

[Smokey]

that's pretty cool. is 2k a big esports game though?

They intended this years ProAm mode to be esports-esque. In the big picture I don't know how well it turned out, but they had to have seen enough to push forward with this.

 

[MegaPanda]

I wonder if they'll be able to sub out players mid-game. Going in with a locked starting 5 might make for a hilarious 2k meta.

 

[Nirolak]

They intended this years ProAm mode to be esports-esque. In the big picture I don't know how well it turned out, but they had to have seen enough to push forward with this.

The NBA owners also had a big presentation on eSports a year or two ago where they saw that gazillions of young men - their primary target audience who is also not watching sports nearly as much as older generals - watch eSports, and all of them wanted to proactively get into that scene.

I suspect we'll see this with the NFL and FIFA soon as well, as they had similar presentations and concerns, and have an even harder time (especially the NFL) getting younger audiences on board.

 

[Quonny]

I like everything about this but the actual sport/game itself.

Isn't the NBA kind of hurting? I know that a couple years ago that the ratings fell hard, don't know about last year.

I don't know how successful a videogame version of a declining sport will be, but the idea, and potential tie-ins, are really cool.

 

[Smokey]

I like everything about this but the actual sport/game itself.

Isn't the NBA kind of hurting? I know that a couple years ago that the ratings fell hard, don't know about last year.

I don't know how successful a videogame version of a declining sport will be, but the idea, and potential tie-ins, are really cool.

uh what?

the NBA is not a declining sport, especially globally.

 

[Quonny]

uh what?

the NBA is not a declining sport, especially globally.

I remember reading a couple years ago that the sport was in decline.

Here's an article.

Like I said, dunno about since 2015.

 

[Raysoul]

Where do I sign up?

 

[Blak_Status]

One thing they didn't announce is platform. I wonder if they'll only have one official platform or a PS4 league and Xbox league separate.

 

[RetroDLC]

I'm only interested in this because of the high probability of bugs and glitches happening during live play.

 

[Parham]

Guess I need to post this again since there are some people who seem to have already forgotten after 2 page. Wow, how the mind slips!

"Allegedly"

Opening admitting to sexually assaulting someone(then banning anyone who called him out for it)

Posting revenge porn with their real full names then another admin(a now jailed pedophile) printed the photos and jacked off over them and sent it to the boyfriend.

You're right, how can we even know if he's guilty or not? HMMMM

Also:

 

[Blak_Status]

Curious to see how this pans out. I have a tough time imagining traditional sports games developing strong esports communities.

I honestly think a big target market will be non-gamers who are huge fans of the NBA. People who never even heard the word "esports" before. A Golden State Warriors pre-game show could literally be the Warriors esports team match. The potential for cross-promotion will be crazy.

 

[billy beane]

I honestly think a big target market will be non-gamers who are huge fans of the NBA. People who never even heard the word "esports" before. A Golden State Warriors pre-game show could literally be the Warriors esports team match. The potential for cross-promotion will be crazy.

Yup. Sports games have a huge following that are very loyal to their games. They just don't post on message boards so gaffers don't know they exist. Madden, FIFA and 2K all have huge followings, and if someone like the NBA can do a league right, it has the potential to be incredibly successful.


ESPN was showing Madden pros on TV years before they showed anything else eSports wise.

 

[Parham]

Guess I need to post this again since there are some people who seem to have already forgotten after 2 page. Wow, how the mind slips!

"Allegedly"

Opening admitting to sexually assaulting someone(then banning anyone who called him out for it)

Posting revenge porn with their real full names then another admin(a now jailed pedophile) printed the photos and jacked off over them and sent it to the boyfriend.

You're right, how can we even know if he's guilty or not? HMMMM

Also:

 

[Orca]

So on the one hand I think this is a good idea.

On the other hand, running it for only 5 months a year is an issue. The popular eSports are run year-round, and these people need jobs when not on the NBA season unless they're getting paid very well.

That said, I imagine they intend to run the league in the months the NBA isn't running.

Maybe they'll use the other seven months to run feeder leagues to find new talent.

 

[ViciousDS]

This already happens in the ProAm mode.

except the netcode still needs fixing.


This type of deal might actually push 2K even more to fix certain aspects of the game.


This game has been unreal as of late and this is only going to push it further away from EA even attempting trying to bring Live back. Competition doesn't seem to be driving 2K, but marketing and huge money behind it like this seems to be.


Either way its only going to make the game even better. This is a win all around for regular players and E-Sports in general