IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allied Esports, a global esports entertainment company, and Simon, a global leader in premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, have announced the names of the 64 finalists of their co-produced amateur national esports tournament, the Simon Cup.
The inaugural six-week competition, which featured thousands of Fortnite players from around the country competing in online qualifiers and in-person regional events at Simon locations in New York and California, will conclude with the Grand Final at HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas on Nov. 23, where the 64 participants will battle in front of a live audience and viewers around the world. After the inaugural Simon Cup winner is crowned on stage at HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, the champion will be invited to one of four Las Vegas Simon centers – The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, The Shops at Crystals, Las Vegas North Premium Outlets or Las Vegas South Premium Outlets – to kick off the ultimate $50,000 shopping spree.
The Simon Cup Grand Final will be streamed live on the Twitch channels of FaZe Clan superstar Nickmercs and Allied Esports starting at 2 p.m. Pacific Time. FaZe Clan’s Cizzorz, GwidT and Clipz, who will be on site at HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, will be featured in the live broadcast as they provide commentary and analysis for the competition and interact with players and fans throughout the event. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
“The Simon Cup was designed to bring gaming communities together in an authentic way – from highly competitive qualifiers online to tears streaming down a winners’ face at a live event – and we are thrilled that the first stage of this program has produced incredibly memorable moments,” said Jud Hannigan, CEO of Allied Esports. “Along with our partners at Simon, we have created a real platform to unearth and showcase skilled players and we all look forward to seeing who handles the spotlight the best next week in Las Vegas.”
The Simon Cup Grand Final will bring to the stage a new wave of talented gamers, including New York Regional winner Alexander Szumski (Gamertag: Sully Wazowski) from Rahway, N.J., California Regional winner Nick Singer (YerMomOnToast) from Ladera Ranch, Calif., and the winner of the open online tournament, Manolo Begay (Bacca) from Las Vegas, Nev., each of whom won a $10,000 shopping spree for finishing at the top of their respective region.
The final 64 participants range in age from 13 to 25, with an average age of 16, and span the country from Stamford, Conn. to Manhattan Beach, Calif., with hometowns in Michigan, West Virginia and Colorado in between. A full list of the finalists can be found at simoncup.com.
The Grand Final tournament structure will include all 64 players in a Fortnite solo custom lobby using a tailored scoring format, emphasizing placements, especially Victory Royales, and eliminations, with point values scaling through each round.
The Simon Cup, an original esports program played on Allied Esports’ new proprietary online platform, started September 30 as Fortnite fans across the country entered the tournament one of two ways: via participation codes received by watching and following the live streams and social channels of select FaZe Clan members or by picking up a Gold Ticket at 13 participating Simon locations in the New York and Los Angeles areas. Participants accumulated points on a weekly basis and were awarded prizes through special missions.
The top 100 players from the New York and California regional tracks competed in regional finals on the HyperX Esports Truck at Roosevelt Field in Garden City, N.Y. and Ontario Mills in Ontario, Calif., where the top 16 from each region advanced to the Grand Final. The regional final events also included appearances by FaZe Clan members, surprise shopping sprees, “last chance” qualifiers, Smash Ultimate tournaments, and additional Fortnite play for prizes and giveaways. The online tournament narrowed the field to the top 32 players, who advanced to Las Vegas and rounded out the field of 64.
Fans can continue to go to the Simon Cup web site through Nov. 21 to compete in missions for cash prizes. For more information about the Simon Cup and the Grand Final, follow @AlliedEsports and visit simoncup.com.
About Allied Esports
Named to Fast Company’s 2019 World’s Most Innovative Companies list, Allied Esports is a leading esports entertainment company with a global network of dedicated esports properties designed to serve as competition battlegrounds, content production facilities and community hubs.
Through direct operation or membership via the Allied Esports Property Network, the world’s first esports venue affiliate program, Allied Esports’ properties span North America, Europe, China and Australia, and include the world-renowned HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, its fleet of mobile arenas, the HyperX Esports Trucks, and the HyperX Esports Studio in Hamburg, Germany.
For more information about Allied Esports, visit AlliedEsports.gg and follow @AlliedEsports. Allied Esports is a subsidiary of Allied Esports Entertainment, Inc.
About Allied Esports Entertainment
Allied Esports Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AESE) is a global esports entertainment venture dedicated to providing transformative live experiences, multiplatform content and interactive services to audiences worldwide through its strategic fusion of two powerful entertainment brands: Allied Esports and the World Poker Tour (WPT). Allied Esports Entertainment was created in August 2019 when Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. completed its business combination with Allied Esports and WPT Enterprises.
About Simon
Simon is a global leader in the ownership of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations and an S&P 100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE: SPG). Our properties across North America, Europe, and Asia provide community gathering places for millions of people every day and generate billions in annual sales. For more information, visit simon.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside the control of us, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include: our ability to execute on our business plan; our ability to retain key personnel; general economic and market conditions impacting demand for our products and services; adequacy of our funds for future operations; our future expenses, revenue and profitability; our ability to develop new products; our dependence on key suppliers, manufacturers and strategic partners; and industry trends and the competitive environment in which we operate. These and other risk factors are discussed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
