While many sports have been forced to press pause on their seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL has mostly been going on with its offseason. With the exception of the draft having to change from its usual monster event to something more subdued, things like free agency have still gone on as teams are gearing up for, hopefully, the 2020 season.
In the meantime, there is still a void that fans have for sports of any kind, and nothing has filled this void quite as well as video games. NASCAR has leaned all the way into iRacing, while the NBA is relying heavily on 2K, including a tournament that will occur later this week with players broadcast on ESPN.
The NFL has decided to also get in on the virtual sports action, as it’s teaming up with EA Sports for a Madden tournament that pits eight football players against one another, with the NFL Foundation and EA making donations to charities supporting COVID-19 relief on behalf of the participants. Here’s how the bracket for the two-night event breaks down.
.@EAMaddenNFL and @thecheckdown are teaming up with some of your favorite @NFL players for a great cause!
Who do you think will be crowned the Madden King? pic.twitter.com/YC4Ib4D81z
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) April 1, 2020
As this shows, games begin at 6 p.m. EST on Wednesday evening and are expected to take about an hour each. The semifinals and finals will occur on Thursday evening with the first virtual games kicking off around 5 p.m. The finals are slated to begin at 8 p.m., but as every football fan knows, games don’t always kick off exactly at the scheduled time. Regardless, the whole thing will take place on the official Madden Twitch channel.
