Both the Sony Playstation 4 and the Microsoft Xbox One have arrive, so what better way to celebrate than a Madden NFL 25 tournament. Electronics retailer Best Buy is launching the ULTIMATE GAMERS SHOWDOWN where the winner from eight cities will get to play Madden NFL 25 on the world’s biggest HD screen at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
“It’s going to kick off in New York City December 2,” Chris Koller, Best Buy’s VP of Entertainment, told Hip-Hop Wired. “It’s going to give an opportunity for gamers to come in and challenge their skills on Madden 25 within our stores in eight different markets across the country. The final will be in Dallas at AT&T Stadium, home of the Cowboys, where they’ll be able to play on the largest HD TV in the world. We’re really excited. Our customers, we know, are going to be excited. Gamers are going to be excited. It’s a great way to follow up on the launches and finish the year strong.”
The tournament starts Monday, Dec. 2 when gamers and sports fans will be able to compete in select Best Buy stores in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta over a two week period. Winners in each market will get a $1,000 Best Buy gift card and a trip for two (2) to Dallas to play in in the finals while the runner-up will get a $500 Best Buy gift card. The finals will be held on Monday, December 16 at the aforementioned home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Besides gamers, each market will also feature NFL players testing their skills on the sticks including Brandon Jacobs of the New York Giants, Mario Manningham of the San Francisco 49ers and Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys.
There should be plenty of gamers eager to battle it out on the PS4 version of Madden 25.
“It’s everybody,” said Koller of today’s gamer. “[You saw] a lot of young men camping out to get the Xbox One at midnight and start playing it, but very quickly it turns into a lot of families that come in and buy for for their kids and casual game players. The gaming audience is immense, but that core gamer, that 18 to 35 year-old-male who is very active, very involved [a] very passionate customer, that’s who we see the most of real early on.”
Think you got the ability to make it to Dallas? Check out the schedule below (it’s first come first serve for 64 spots).
The ULTIMATE GAMERS SHOWDOWN in-store tournament event details are as follows:
Dec 2:
New York – Union Square (5-10 p.m.)
San Francisco – 13th & Harrison (5-10 p.m.)
Dec 4:
Boston – Braintree (5-10 p.m.)
Los Angeles – West LA/Pico Blvd (5-10 p.m.)
Dec 10:
Detroit – Novi (5-10 p.m.)
Chicago – North Avenue (5-10 p.m.)
Dec 12:
Minneapolis – Richfield (5-10 p.m.)
Atlanta – Alpharetta (5-10 p.m.)
Dec 16:
Dallas – Finals – AT&T Stadium (Invitation only)
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Photo: EA Sports
