Had the opportunity to check out NBA 2K League’s The Ticket event at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida over the weekend! It was hosted at Full Sail’s brand new $6 million Esports arena aptly called “The Fortress”.
Amazing is an understatement to how cool that facility is, I’m happy for the city of Orlando that the NBA 2K League used one our campuses for their tournament!
Days 1 and part of 2 were qualifying matches for the tournament, there was a decent turnout for these games for a new concept and even newer arena. Day 3 was filled with tournament play and wow was it was intense! $180k in prize money was going to be given away to the top 8 teams with 1st Place winning $90k of it! Let’s just say there was cause for each player to be locked in during each of the matches.
I got to see last year’s champions Knicks gaming in action as well as Raptors gaming, HeatCheck Gaming, Warriors gaming, CLTX (Celtics), Pacers, and of course the home team Magic Gaming. The tie ins of these historic franchises into esports was interesting to see, it’s a great way to leverage existing fan bases into a new venture.
Overall it was pretty awesome to see a new competitive product from the NBA and 2K as they develop a fan base and viewership apart from their core business of basketball and video games. I believe they have a fantastic product on their hands that’s not only entertaining but will be able to draw in thousands of fans from around the world.
I want to thank Full Sail University and the NBA 2K League for extending media access to 9450 Media and ability to cover The Ticket tournament! Shoutout to Devon Garden and thank you for all your help!