The Philadelphia 76ers will be one of 17 teams to participate in the NBA’s eSports initiative this upcoming season.
As social networks expand and the internet becomes an increasingly integral aspect of society, the NBA — in conjunction with the Philadelphia 76ers and 16 other teams — will be undergoing an initiative to further expose the league in the eSports industry.
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In what is essentially a mock season, 17 individual teams — made up of 5 created players in NBA 2K — will undergo a season/postseason style campaign, including a draft that is slotted to take place later this year. The league will feature “the world’s best gamers,” according to 2K’s eSports League Managing Director Brendan Donohue in Sporting News’ report.
In February, Adam Silver detailed the league’s hopes to create a “special” product for the fans. “We look forward to combining our best-in-class NBA sports teams operators with Take-Two’s competitive gaming expertise to create a brand new league experience.”
While eSports have yet to garner an audience remotely comparabale to the NBA games themselves, it’s an intriguing route for the league to take. In what is rapidly becoming a digital age, more and more people are flocking towards gaming as a source of both activity and entertainment. With 2K becoming, far and away, the most popular game in relation to the NBA, it’s a gamble that, for the league and for 2K, could pay off in the future.
Sporting News’ aforementioned reports did, however, detail some concerns that could undercut the success of the newfound program down the road. In previous tournaments and events, 2K has struggled with cheating in tournaments’ qualifying rounds, while the poor planning behind the tournaments has often led to under-performance as a whole.
With the NBA investing such massive stock into eSports as a way of further expanding their base and outreach worldwide, those are problems that the companies will undoubtedly need to address.
There are also the challenges of simple functionality, as different time zones, schedules and internet speeds could all impact the ease with which the games unfold. If scheduling is thrown off and issues cause certain players to miss out — in what are just 5 player teams — the room for error becomes significantly greater.
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With this move, the Sixers — as well as the rest of the league — will likely find themselves in a bit of a feeling out process. How the market reacts to the addition, as well as the traffic it receives and the ensuing praise (or criticism) will likely determine how the league approaches their efforts towards eSports moving forward — if they continue to pursue them at all.
This is an effort to bridge the gap between internet-based entertainment and the game of basketball, something that provides a vivid metaphor for the shifting paradigm of today’s society and the growth of virtual entertainment. People aren’t always attracted to the real thing, per se. Displaying basketball, in it’s fullest form, in the gaming realm could expand the base to which the league extends it’s message.
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It’s a matter of finding the proper protocol at this point. How the league is marketed, as well as how well it’s ran, will be massive determinants for its long-term success. Cheating scandals and an iffy product would drive away any remote semblance of a fanbase in droves, while tarnishing the reputation of the efforts — an in turn, the league — as a result.
It’s an interesting endeavor for the Sixers, and the league, to embark on — let’s see how it pans out.