NBC Sports Group, in partnership with online competitive gaming platform FACEIT and developer Psyonix, announced today that U.S. registration for the “Universal Open” – an inaugural esports tournament open to gamers of all skill levels – is now underway on Faceit.com.
The Universal Open is a 2v2 tournament featuring Rocket League, the sports-action hit with a community of more than 33 million players, developed and published by San Diego-based game studio, Psyonix. Click here to register for the Universal Open. The tournament will utilize FACEIT’s competitive gaming platform, and numerous NBCUniversal and Comcast regional, national and international assets.
The tournament begins with the Qualifier stage played on FACEIT from July 19-20 and July 25-27. The NBC Sports Regional Networks will each hold online Qualifiers which will be organized geographically. An additional Qualifier will be held for the remainder of the United States (U.S. Open Qualifier). All Qualifiers are open to residents in the United States and Canada.
The tournament will then move on to the Regionals stage where top performers in the Qualifiers will compete live at select NBC Sports Regional Networks studios on the weekends of August 5-6 and August 12-13. These competitions will be live-streamed on the NBC Sports app and Telemundo En Vivo app, as well as other social media platforms, with portions televised live through the NBC Sports Regional Networks. The Regionals for the U.S. Open Qualifier will be played online only via FACEIT.
The Universal Open will culminate in a two-day Grand Finals on August 26-27 at Esports Arena in Santa Ana, Calif., featuring 16 total teams competing for a $100,000 prize pool. The Grand Finals will be livestreamed across the same channels as the Regionals and be televised live in the U.S. on NBCSN, and on Syfy in the UK, Germany, Australia and multiple countries across Latin America. In total, more than 40 hours of event coverage will be presented across live-streaming, video-on-demand, and linear platforms. Click here for more details on the Universal Open, including a complete list of dates for the Qualifiers, Regionals and Grand Finals of the Universal Open. Click here for a complete list of rules.
Following is the complete list of dates of Qualifiers, Regionals, and the Grand Finals.
UNIVERSAL OPEN – U.S. REGISTRATION AND TOURNAMENT BRACKET
Date
Qualifiers
Regionals
Grand Finals
Wed., July 19
U.S. Open Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
Thur., July 20
1) Mid-Atlantic Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
2) Philadelphia Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
Tues., July 25
1) New York Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
2) New England Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
Wed., July 26
Chicago Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
Thur., July 27
1) Bay Area Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
2) Northwest Qualifier
[Faceit.com]
Fri., July 28
U.S. Open Regional
[Faceit.com]
Sat., August 5
East Regional
[Philadelphia, Pa.]
Sun., August 6
Northeast Regional
[New York, N.Y.]
Sat., August 12
Midwest Regional
[Chicago, Ill.]
Sun., August 13
West Regional
[San Francisco, Calif.]
Sat., August 26
Grand Finals – Day 1
[Santa Ana, Calif.]
Sun., August 27
Grand Finals – Day 2
[Santa Ana, Calif.]