The inaugural eMLS Cup is no longer simply “on the horizon” or even something that’s “on the radar.” It’s this weekend, and the hype is reaching a boiling point.
With 19 competitors set to rep their MLS clubs at the biggest MLS eSports tournament to date, the gaming community is locked in. And there are plenty of reasons why this tournament is a big deal.
For these competitors, winning it all could mean a shot at competing on the world’s stage. For those who don’t, a gutsy performance filled with plenty of personality could mean a slingshot into Twitch or YouTube fame. And for the fans, this is a chance to see some of the best FIFA players on the continent go head-to-head.
To get the juices flowing, we talked to some of the biggest names in the FIFA gaming community: Mike and Drew from the SpinBros, who have amassed over 77,000 Twitch followers in less than five years, and Zweback, who’s quickly closing in on one million YouTube subscribers. They’ll both be in town this weekend, and they couldn’t be more excited about what this means for their community.
“I think it’s just an incredible move from MLS to just take that risk, you know?” said Zweback, who has seen his FIFA streaming profile grow to one of the biggest on YouTube in recent years. “Having this rule set, where three MLS players have to be in the squad – two from your team and then one other player – I think that makes for a really interesting concept for a competition.”
The quirks of the competition will likely mirror the quirks of the league as they play out in real life; players of different backgrounds and pedigrees will square up with the world’s best. As often as Messi, Ronaldo, and legendary cards like Patrick Vieira and Ronaldinho populate the 19 squads competing at eMLS Cup, the likes of Gyasi Zardes, Romain Alessandrini, Alberth Elis and Ike Opara will also be among them, often acting as the real difference-makers in otherwise similar squads.
However, as interesting as the actual competition will undoubtedly be, there is something to be said for the sheer scale of the event. These competitors know that something greater awaits them on the other side.
“This is really an incredible platform, an incredible opportunity for these 19 competitors representing their club,” said Mike from the SpinBros. “These guys, a lot of times they’re just regular guys who play the game for fun and happen to be really, really good, and now they’re getting these opportunities that they never would have gotten if eMLS Cup wasn’t a thing.”
“With Twitch being such an incredible platform and being able to reach anywhere in the world, the exposure that this tournament will give these players, and to MLS as a whole, is just amazing,” said Drew, the other half of the SpinBros. “I think if you look back in four or five years, this event will be seen as gigantic. It’s already big now, but down the line, I think it will bring in a lot more hype just for our domestic league, as well.”
But even as these FIFA experts look towards the future, they stress local engagement as a major key in driving interest for the event itself. As clubs sorted through candidates to represent them — including the Portland Timbers, who had over 100 gamers on their list — at eMLS Cup, a whole new kind of competition was created.
“Even what happened leading up to this event is amazing,” Drew. said “The different clubs having local fans play against top players in the area, figuring out who was going to be representing their hometown team, it’s amazing what that can do.
“There are so many people in this country who play FIFA, and not all of them are fans of MLS already, so this is bringing in a lot of local excitement, which is really awesome.”
On the other side of that local exposure for each of the 19 competitors is a worldwide audience. With Twitch, YouTube and the whole gamut of social media playing a role in this weekend’s festivities, eMLS Cup could be a springboard into the limelight for the next major star.
“When you look at it, a lot of the major, big-time FIFA content creators aren’t in the United States,” Drew said. “With Twitch getting involved with MLS and now this tournament, I think it will give a lot of Americans a chance to really pop off and potentially make a big impact on YouTube as well. I think this opens up a market for a lot more MLS content on Twitch and YouTube.”
BuckArmy, representing the Colorado Rapids, may be tough to beat at the eMLSCup | Garrett Elwood
While digital streaming platforms are the king when it comes to measuring popularity, events like PAX East give gamers a chance to show off their skills and bring their craft to a different kind of audience. Sometimes, that face-to-face interaction can launch a full-time streaming career, or even bring an entire sport to an audience of people who have never had the opportunity to fall in love with it.
“I think this is the future,” Zweback said. “Of course, you can’t really predict the future, but I think this is the sort of bet you want to make.
“We have so many people in this country who play FIFA, and I think this tournament could be a huge connector between the digital world and the real-life game.”
Of course, all of this speculation about the impact that this tournament might make begs one question: what are we likely to see this weekend?
Luckily, we were able to ask three folks who have their finger on the pulse, and they offered some surprising answers.
“Look, these guys play a lot of games, and I’m not going to say I’ve seen everyone up close,” Zweback said, “but the guy I’ve seen the most of is [Toronto FC’s] Phil Blake. [The Colorado Rapids’] BuckArmy is a very well-established Twitch streamer, and he’s incredible as well, but it’s almost an any-given-Sunday type of thing.
“What’s exciting about these 19 competitors is that it’s all up for grabs, there’s no clear-cut favorite.”
The SpinBros have a different kind of outlook on the tournament, and their take on what separates the best from the rest at eMLS Cup is all about who these competitors have in their arsenal.
“I think the best players here in North America are definitely on the same level as the best players in Europe and South America, no question,” Mike said. “We interviewed Doolsta from the Philadelphia Union last week, and it really just comes down to having pace and knowing how to use it. Players like Eric Ayuk, Auston Trusty and some of their other pacey defenders and midfielders, even though they might not have the same stats as players on the Galaxy, those are dangerous guys.”
Every team has its hidden gems. Of course, with the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the LA Galaxy, there’s one more bona fide world-class player for everyone to choose from. He’s not exactly hiding anywhere, but the arrival of lesser-known players filling out the squads of these 19 competitors to the digital mainstream could raise their profile in real life, too.
“One of the things that really reinvigorated my interest in MLS was FIFA,” Zweback said. “You’ve got these players that everyone uses in Ultimate Team, from Europe or wherever, but there are these hidden gems in MLS.
“If I’m watching a kid who is a diehard Real Madrid supporter and he’s also an avid Ultimate Team player, and he sees a couple of cool MLS players in-game and realizes they actually play for his local club, there’s a new form of interest that grows very organically. And that’s what everyone wants: for the next wave of growth to be really organic and genuine.”
While it’s easy for these now-major influencers to get caught up in the possibilities of this weekend and what it could mean for the future of both MLS and eMLS, they can’t help but look back at how the rise of eMLS Cup reflects their own paths to professional gaming.
“We just started out streaming from our Xbox One with the Kinect in our parents’ basement a few years ago,” laughed Drew from SpinBros. “It was just a hobby, something we wanted to do with friends, and to see it grow to where it is now is just amazing. It shows anybody can do it if they set their mind to it and commit to it.”
“I remember way back in 2013, MLS and KickTV (now renamed COPA90 US) did this thing called ‘Unlock the MLS Cup,’ with YouTubers representing every MLS team,” Zweback said. “I represented the Seattle Sounders, and essentially we played each other as YouTubers, not as the cream of the crop.
“To just flash forward to now, and to see how far everything has come to this point, I love thinking about how big of a leap it’s made.”
