According to a press release by Take Two Interactive, they along with the NBA plan to release a professional esports league, hoping to feature all 30 NBA teams. Below is the press release released by Take Two Interactive today and also tweets from @NBA2K with information about the league:
First Official eSports League Operated by U.S. Professional Sports League Set for 2018 Debut
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 9, 2017– The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced plans to launch the NBA 2K eLeague, a new, professional competitive gaming league that will bring together the best basketball gamers in the world. This marks the first official eSports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league.
Set to debut in 2018, this groundbreaking competitive gaming league will consist of teams operated by actual NBA franchises. The founding teams, each composed of five professional eSports players who will play the game as user-created avatars, will be announced in the coming months. The NBA 2K eLeague will follow a professional sports league format: competing head-to-head throughout a regular season, participating in a bracketed playoff system, and concluding with a championship matchup.
“We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop something truly special for our fans and the young and growing eSports community,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “We look forward to combining our best-in-class NBA sports team operators with Take-Two’s competitive gaming expertise to create a brand new league experience.”
“We are proud to expand our strong relationship with the NBA and co-create the NBA 2K eLeague,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “Through the NBA 2K series, which is renowned throughout the world for capturing the authenticity of the NBA and the passion of its fans, we have a proven track record of highly successful collaboration. With this new venture, Take-Two and the NBAaim to fuel the accelerating growth of eSports and take the thrill of competition to exciting new heights.”
The relationship between NBA and Take-Two dates back to 1999, with the NBA 2K series selling over 68 million units worldwide. The most recent release, NBA 2K17, is the highest-rated annual sports game of the current console generation and the highest-rated title in the history of the NBA 2K series.(1) To date, NBA 2K17 has sold-in nearly 7 million units, and is poised to become 2K’s highest-selling sports title ever.
In December, 2K launched its second official eSports competition, NBA 2K17 All-Star Tournament, which offers teams of gamers the chance to win a trip to NBA All-Star 2017. The 5-on-5 tournament, featuring a $250,000 grand prize, will culminate on Feb. 17 in New Orleans.
@NBA2K Tweets
Adam Silver: "It's going to be a global competition." – #NBA2KeLeague
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) February 9, 2017
Adam Silver: "There's going to be a draft. It will begin with a pool of gamers… a global pool of players!" – #NBA2KeLeague
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) February 9, 2017
Strauss Zelnick on if this will be a full time job for gamers: "It will be… this will become their job." #NBA2KeLeague
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) February 9, 2017
Adam Silver: "You can be 4 feet tall in this league. You can be of any sex, shape, size, ethnicity, nationality…" #NBA2KeLeague
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) February 9, 2017
Adam Silver: "There will be a real draft of players… " Just like the real NBA, teams will find more players outside draft. #NBA2KeLeague
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) February 9, 2017
Strauss Zelnick: "Our expectation is that we and league partners, are going to search for the most phenomenal players…" #NBA2KeLeague
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) February 9, 2017
Strauss Zelnick: "This will become their job, in what will probably be, at least initially, a five month season." #NBA2KeLeague
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) February 9, 2017
Source: http://ir.take2games.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86428&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2244689