{"id":3865,"date":"2017-03-03T12:10:32","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T19:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/photos-seahawks-host-first-ever-madden-17-championship-tournament-in-seattle\/"},"modified":"2017-03-03T12:10:32","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T19:10:32","slug":"photos-seahawks-host-first-ever-madden-17-championship-tournament-in-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/photos-seahawks-host-first-ever-madden-17-championship-tournament-in-seattle\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Seahawks host first-ever Madden 17 Championship Tournament in Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"
visit this site<\/a> http:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/20170302_Seahawks_Madden_Championship_01-300×200.jpg 300w, dosage<\/a> http:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/20170302_Seahawks_Madden_Championship_01-768×512.jpg 768w, visit<\/a> http:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/20170302_Seahawks_Madden_Championship_01-630×420.jpg 630w, http:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/20170302_Seahawks_Madden_Championship_01-200×133.jpg 200w, http:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/20170302_Seahawks_Madden_Championship_01-150×100.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px”>
The Seattle Seahawks hosted their inaugural Madden 17 Championship Tournament at the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) on Thursday evening. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Virtual football collided with real football at\u00a0a first-of-its-kind event on Thursday evening in Seattle.<\/p>\n

The Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) transformed into a video game party of sorts as the Seattle Seahawks hosted their\u00a0inaugural Madden 17 Championship Tournament, where eight of the nation\u2019s top Madden gamers duked it out on the giant Sky Church screen for a chance to win part of a $15,000 prize pool and a spot in\u00a0the Madden 17 Club Series Championship this April.<\/p>\n

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Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin plays Madden against former Seahawks safety Jordan Babineaux. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Madden, the popular football video game made by Electronic Arts, partnered with the NFL this year and for the first time enabled eight pro teams to host their own Madden tournaments as part of a larger circuit that ends with the\u00a02017 EA Sports Madden Championship in May and features a $1 million prize pool.<\/p>\n

The Seahawks invited season-ticket holders to MoPOP \u2014 which is owned by Seahawks owner Paul Allen \u2014 on Thursday for a fun VIP evening that featured Seattle wide receiver and avid Madden gamer\u00a0Doug Baldwin<\/a> facing off against\u00a0former Seahawks safety Jordan Babineaux in between the tournament matches.<\/p>\n

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(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seahawks mascot Blitz and a handful of SeaGals were also in attendance at the event, which included live music, lots of food and drink, and analysts who provided commentary during the Madden games that were streamed live to thousands of people on Twitch<\/a>, at Seahawks.com, and Madden\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n

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(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Watch live video from EAMaddenNFL on www.twitch.tv<\/a><\/p>\n

Ultimately it was\u00a0Michael \u201cKillerMike\u201d Clark who beat\u00a0Shay \u201cYoung Kiv\u201d Kivlen<\/a> in the final game, 38-31.<\/p>\n

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Congratulations to @USAirForce<\/a> Command Post Controller @ekimrellik<\/a> for winning the #Madden17<\/a> Seahawks Championship! pic.twitter.com\/GxsIAeMgmP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) March 3, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Before the championship match, we caught up with Kivlen, a 19-year-old from Edmonds, Wash. who only started playing Madden a few years ago after an arm injury kept him off the baseball diamond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell in love with it,\u201d he told GeekWire. \u201cI started to get pretty good and committed a lot of time to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Shay Kivlen battles Michael Clark at the Madden 17 Club Series tournament. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kivlen said he\u2019s already won more than $10,000 in prize money from previous Madden competitions and \u201cif I keep on the path I\u2019m going, I definitely want to make this a full-time job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the new world of eSports, where people\u00a0are finding full-time work thanks to their video game talents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of factors that go into being good at Madden,\u201d explained Kivlen, who missed his high school graduation because of a Madden tournament. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot about scheming; about stick skills; about making the right decision on every play; about anticipation on offense or defense. It\u2019s also about adjustments in the game \u2014 you can come in with a scheme and it might not work, but if you adjust, it can separate you from other players.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dave Grunfeld hosts a weekly show on NFL Network called Madden NFL America<\/a>, which spotlights the top Madden players around the U.S. He was also at the event on Thursday and told\u00a0GeekWire that these tournaments give gamers a way to showcase their talents.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see events like this and it really all starts to come together,\u201d he said. \u201cOur show is just part of a larger cog; it\u2019s this whole community that is growing right now. It\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
(GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Grunfeld said it\u2019s \u201csurreal\u201d how the Madden franchise started as a simple game and has turned into somewhat of a phenomenon, with actual money and fame now up for grabs. And now the NFL is getting involved, with the hopes of having each team host their own tournament like Seattle did on Thursday. It\u2019s similar to what the NBA is doing with its new eSports league<\/a> organized with NBA 2K game developer Take Two.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan is to continue to integrate the NFL with the Madden community,\u201d Grunfeld said. \u201cThere is so much overlap and it\u2019s a natural fit. This is the first year where there is real serious money and attention being paid to this. This is the ground floor. It\u2019s an exciting time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Travis Smith, a technical events producer for EA, told GeekWire that his company has hosted Madden tournaments for several years but kicked it up a notch after establishing an entire division<\/a>\u00a0to competitive gaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t anything that\u00a0will go away,\u201d Smith\u00a0said of the Madden Championship Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check out our interview with Baldwin below \u2014 the Pro Bowl receiver, who spoke at our GeekWire Sports Tech Summit<\/a> last year,\u00a0talks about his love for video games, his Madden rating, virtual reality, and more:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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