Now is the chance for competitive gaming to win the hearts and minds of many

By Nicole Ganglani | Photo from NBA2K2020

In the absence of traditional sports due to the coronavirus pandemic, esports has taken over the spotlight. Steam, the video game digital-distribution service, reached an all-time high of 20 million players last March. It also helps that celebrities and professional basketball players are participating in competitive gaming, which has brought more interest in esports.

Now more than ever is the perfect chance for competitive gaming to win the hearts and minds of many—and it’s doing just that by streaming its games online. From basketball to the world’s most popular shooting game, here are three esports tournaments you should follow right now:

NBA 2K Tourney

NBA 2K20 is making up for the postponed season with its own tournament featuring NBA players themselves. The players participating are Kevin Durant, Derrich Jones Jr, Montrezl Harrell, Trae Young and Devin Booker among others. The winner of the tournament will be crowned the first ever NBA 2K20 champion and receive a $100,000 charity donation under their name to be given to coronavirus relief efforts. As of writing, the tournament is still in the first round. You can catch every game on ESPN.

🚨 Make your bracket predictions 🚨

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We’ll be on the lookout 👀 pic.twitter.com/mttrNSRzIn

— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) April 1, 2020

Counter Strike

Some of the best Counter Strike teams from around the world are currently competing at the Electronic Sports League—a Counter Strike offensive professional esports league. The league features 24 teams from Europe, US, Asia and Oceania and is already on its 11th season. Some of the teams currently battling in the best of three series right now are Astralis, Complexity Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas. The grand winner of the tournament takes $175,000. The ESL live stream is available for 24 hours via this link.

League of Legends (LoL)

League of Legends witnessed its peak viewership at last year’s League of Legends World tournament with over 100 million tuning in. The World Championships takes place every November to conclude the League of Legends esports season. The qualifiers for the mid-season competition (one of the biggest events in the LoL season) is happening right now—with over 21 ongoing elimination tournaments. This year’s World Championship is expecting 24 teams from 14 regions. You can stream all LoL tournaments live