Letsplay.live have announced the details of New Zealand's first commercially televised NBA 2K esports tournament.

Qualifiers will begin on June 24 with the competition set to take place online for five weeks during July with the televised final - to be broadcast on SKY Sport - scheduled for July 26 at the SKYCITY Theatre in Auckland.

The competition will be contested in a one-on-one format and is open to players of all skill levels from across New Zealand.

Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players can compete, leading to 16 finalists, with eight from each console, culminating in the Xbox One champion meeting the PlayStation 4 champion in the live televised final.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The final will be played across a best-of-five format in NBA 2K17 and the grand final will also include a celebrity showdown to see who has the most game.

This is the first sports simulation esports event from Letsplay.live (LPL) who also promoted last year's League of Legends and Call of Duty events that were televised on SKY.

Duane Mutu, Director at LPL, expects this to be a hugely popular tournament.
"Being a basketball fan, and player, I am excited about this event and I can't wait to see how many people get on board," Mutu says.

"This is a great development for LPL and esports in New Zealand and the sport is only continuing to grow."

This announcement comes on the back of the NBA, in conjunction with Take-Two Interactive, creating an esports league focusing on the NBA 2K franchise.
This is the first esports league to be operated by a North American professional sports league and will be structured similarly to the NBA; teams will be operated by NBA franchises and will feature professional esports players.
The New Zealand tournament comes at a time where esports is booming.

"Basketball is a very competitive game and NBA 2K is no different, so we're pleased to bring a franchise-first gaming tournament to NZ with the Letsplay.live team," Alfie Brody, VP of Marketing for NBA 2K, says.

Players can register at www.letsplay.live from May 27 to compete for the $10,000 prize pool and the right to claim their title as the LPL3 NBA 2K17 Ulitmate Champion.