After two successful seasons of a televised Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league and a major event, Turner Broadcasting is adding to the ELEAGUE stable with the Street Fighter V Invitational, the company announced Thursday.
The ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational is a two-month tournament that will feature 32 of the best SFV players in the world competing from the end of March and into late May for a piece of a $250,000 prize pool.
A preliminary round will take place from March 27-30. Four groups of eight will battle in best-of-three series amongst each other to narrow the competition to 24 players advancing to the regular season. Twenty-four players will be divided into four groups of six for the regular season. The campaign will run from April 7 to May 12 with two players from each group earning a spot in the playoffs. The remaining eight teams will compete in an elimination bracket to determine the winner on May 26.
"[W]e’re thrilled to further diversify our ELEAGUE portfolio with this exciting esports title,” chief content officer and executive vice president of Turner Sports Craig Barry said, as quoted by Dot sports.
The invitational will begin with broadcasts on Twitch, but later rounds of the competition will be aired on both Twitch and TBS. A feature show and preview of the finals will also air on TBS on April 28 and May 19, respectively. The finals will air on TBS on May 26 at 10pm et.
"Being on TBS allows Street Fighter and the Capcom Pro Tour to reach a much wider mainstream audience," Capcom's director of licensing John Diamonon said, as quoted by Dot Esports. "We see this as a vehicle and opportunity to grow the Fighting Game Community and fighting games in general to new heights.
