MIAMI, December 13th - Today, the Miami HEAT organization announce its participation in the inaugural season of the NBA 2K League. The team, named HEAT Check Gaming, will join the 17-team eleague scheduled to start competition in May 2018.
The NBA 2K League, a joint venture between the NBA and Take-Two interactive, is a professional esports league featuring the best NBA 2K players in the world. The teams will feature five players who compete as unique characters in 5-on-5 play against other teams for five months in a format consisting of a regular season, playoff and championship matchup.
HEAT Check Gaming (the name is an homage to the basketball reference of a player on a hot shooting streak taking a difficult shot to see if he/she is still indeed hot) is the latest foray into esports for the Miami HEAT organization. In January 2017, the franchise announced a strategic partnership with the esports club, Misfits. Through the partnership, the HEAT assist in marketing, branding, promotion, retail, digital and sponsorship activation. Misfits co-founder Ben Spoont will advise HEAT Check Gaming.
“We’ve enjoyed being a part of the esports landscape over the past year and have had a front row seat to experience the passion and love of gaming fans,” said HEAT Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael McCullough. “Knowing that a lot of diehard basketball fans have a similar passion and love for not only our game, but for NBA 2K, we’re excited to see the two genres mesh. We’re also actively looking to hire an esports Marketing Manager to lead HEAT Check Gaming and oversee all aspects of our esports activities.”
The first stage of qualifying for the NBA 2K League will take place from January 1-31, 2018. The qualifying stage is open to anyone around the world 18-older who has a copy of NBA 2K18 for Playstation 4 or Xbox One. Players can compete as a walk-on, part of a team or a combination, but must win 50 games in NBA 2K18’s Pro-Am mode and complete an online application by January 31. After an additional round of tryouts in February, the premier players will be selected for a player draft that will take place in March 2018. Each of the 17 teams participating in the inaugural season will draft players who will live in-market during the season.
“I’m excited to bring my esports experience to HEAT Check Gaming as the team prepares for the inaugural season,” said Misfits Gaming CEO Ben Spoont. “HEAT Check Gaming will feature the world’s most elite 2K players as it takes its place on the court with the other 16 NBA 2K League teams.”
HEAT Check Gaming (@HeatCheckGaming) is live on social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.