'Madden' Challenge Returns with $50,000 Mega Draft Champions Tournament

EA Sports is taking a strong step toward the lucrative and successful world of eSports, and Madden NFL is leading the way.

Old Madden tournament players and fans might remember the Madden Challenge. Dating back to the early 2000s, the Madden Challenge was arguably the premier series of tournaments organized to determine the best players on EA Sports' iconic virtual football game.

Beginning Thursday, November 19, and culminating the week of Super Bowl 50 (February 7, 2016), EA Sports and Twitch will present the Madden NFL Live Challenge. It's a humongous tournament that invites any North American-based fan to participate and potentially earn his or her spot in the championship grid the week of the big game.

The tournament is centered around the new Draft Champions (DC) mode that was introduced in Madden NFL 16 in August. DC combines elements of fantasy football with video game skills. It was easily one of the best new modes—if not the best new mode—introduced in the sports video game genre this year. In case you're unfamiliar with the mode, here's a look at it in action.

Any gamer who participates in DC Ranked mode games will be entered into the first leg of the tournament. Through November and December, gamers who are able to climb the rankings to become one of the top 64 ranked players on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will be invited to the next round.

Those gamers will clash in January to narrow the field down to the top four. That group will go to San Francisco on Super Bowl week to compete in the finals. The final event will take place immediately before the Madden Bowl—which features NFL players.

The winner of the Madden NFL Live Challenge will take home $20,000 of the total $50,000 prize pool, per a press release made available to Bleacher Report. That's not too shabby. Every fan will have an opportunity to play, even those who haven't picked up Madden for their consoles. There will be a free trial for the game on Xbox One and PS4 that runs from November 20-23.

Unlike many other eSports events, EA Sports chose to take more of an all-inclusive approach to this event. Madden NFL general manager Roy Harvey explained: “There are some amazing players out there, so we want to give them a chance to show their skills in an official tournament. We’ll also be streaming matches on Twitch so not only can everyone play, everyone can watch.” 

I also had an opportunity to speak with Matt Marcou from the game's developmental team. Marcou was hired to oversee the tournament and EA Sports' current and future ventures in the world of eSports. Marcou is definitely qualified for the task.

He served as league commissioner for League of Legends (LoL) while with Riot Games and, per Marcou, "has spent the last 15 years of his life organizing and commissioning competitive gaming leagues and events."

When asked about the inclusion of real NFL players in the overall production of this event, Marcou offered a pro-gamer response. "There's a possibility we'll have something involving real-life NFL guys, but that's not a part of the process that I deal with," Marcou said. "I'm more focused on making the gamers the star."

That is an ideal approach for him, as well as other representatives from the creators of major sports video game titles that hope to ride eSports' wave of prosperity. If EA Sports and Madden are able to gain traction with this competitive gaming event, it'll likely serve as a motivator to the publisher—and others—to broaden their eSports horizons.

That could mean more tournament-style gaming modes, live streamed content and increased access to certain modes. Many of the top eSports titles are actually free to play—LoL is one example. LoL's popularity provides more than enough revenue opportunities, so there's no real need to charge for the game itself.

EA Sports offering Madden 16 free for three days could be seen as a step in that direction.

For anyone who is interested in getting a feel for the burgeoning Madden competitive community, EA Sports produces Madden NFL Live on Twitch every Friday at noon ET. It also airs on the NFL Network on Fridays at 4 p.m. ET.

The tournament will also feature a little blast from the past. A special invitational tournament that features past Madden NFL champions will be held. These players will help fill out the other half of the bracket. Four of them will qualify.

We could be seeing the likes of Eugene "Big Gene" Williams, who won the 2004 Madden Challenge, or 2007 Madden Challenge winner Ayan "Fool" Tariq. 

Per Marcou, the inclusion of Madden gaming legends serves as a way to pay homage to the history of competitive Madden play and a way to introduce the fine arts of the game to a new audience.

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