ESPN turns to esports as its usual sports programming has been postponed due to coronavirus-related concerns.
ESPN is hosting 12 hours of esports coverage, April 5th, that will include tournaments for Madden 20, NBA 2K20, Apex Legends, Rocket League and more.
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Professional athletes themselves will be participating in tournaments for many of the games.
The day will begin with a series of Madden tournaments at 12:00 PM, followed by the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix at 2:00 PM. Formula 1 drivers Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, George Russell, Lando Norris, and Nicholas Latifi will participate.
The Season 8 Rocket League World Championship will be airing at 4:30 PM.
Airing at 6:00 PM, the first round of the NBA’s NBA 2K Players Tournament will continue with appearances from Montrezl Harrell, Domantas Sabonis, Donovan Mitchell, Rui Hachimura, Devin Booker, Michael Porter Jr., Andre Drummond, and DeMarcus Cousins. The winner will select a charity of their choice to receive a $100,000 donation from 2K, the NBA and the NBPA in support of coronavirus relief efforts.
At 10:00 PM Tarik Cohen, Dillon Francis, Connor Ball, Devin Booker and more will be playing in the EXP Apex Legends Pro-Am. Winning will benefit the V Foundation.
Esports has seen a rise in popularity over recent years, but even more drastically, in recent months. The Verge reports that the platform went from 982 million hours viewed in February to 1.1 billion hours viewed in March.
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