By Kenia Caballero — Reporter
It has been impossible for athletes to continue practicing their love for sports with the current coronavirus pandemic.
However, Esports leagues are doing their best to help athletes feel included during this quarantine. Esports has made it possible for athletes to raise money for the COVID-19 relief charities.
The best part is that the athlete is not the only person that can benefit from this. Companies such as ESPN and Fox Sports also see this as relief because it helps them fill up air time.
On March 29 Fox Sports aired the first-ever Esports Madden NFL invitational. This event lasted two hours and it was hosted by Chris Myers and Rachel Bonnetta. All done with the intention to raise awareness for the CDC foundation with regards COVID-19.
The tournament had the following eight starts for the single-elimination Madden NFL 20 tournament.
Michael Vick, Matt Leinart, Orlando Scandrick, T.J.Houshmandzadeh, Juju Smith-Schuster, Derwin James, Antonio Cromartie, and Ahman Green. With seven matches and three rounds, Fox decides who wins and will become Fox Sports Madden NFL Invitational champion.
Each player played remotely with games that were live streamed into a single telecast. Fox made sure to remind the audience of the reason behind the tournament. They constantly directed the attention to the CDC Foundation and independent nonprofits to raise awareness.
However, the viewers were not the only ones that were being encouraged to donate. Athletes were also doing their part; the winners of the tournament were presenting donations as high as 100,000 dollars.
Many have joined Fox sports. The NBA as well as the NBA association and the company take-two Interactive that is in charge of producing games such as “NBA 2K2020, partner up with Disney’s ESPN to air an esports tournament. This tournament features Durant.
Durant happens to be one of the NBA players that tested positive to COVID-19, but he has since recovered.
Having him play a major role in this tournament is definitely a plus for the fans. It is a great act of kindness these athletes are doing. I’m curious to see how far this will take the world of Esports.
Follow Kenia on Twitter @KeniaCNews