THE Nationals—originally set to kick off last March—intends to open its second season in September this time online as the Covid-19 pandemic remains uncurbed.
The Nationals Commissioner Ren Vitug said the league is well aware of the pandemic situation but believes that sports, especially eSports where social distancing doesn’t pose a problem, could provide a much-needed reprieve.
“Sports could bring joy and hope to the people—and in all of sports, eSports is the best in terms of social distancing protocols,” Vitug said.
“Of course, the league also generates jobs for a lot of players, their support staff, and in many other interfaces,” he added.
While online play is synonymous with eSports, The Nationals is unique—all of its tournament games last year were played in a studio setting, thus opening opportunities in production like live audiences, captured player reactions and on-the-spot interviews.
For 2020, The Nationals plans to line up three conferences for each of the games the league featured last season—Tekken 7, Dota 2 and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
But because of the health crisis, Vitug said the season will be played to 50 percent capacity from last year to three conferences.
The Nationals have been working closely with the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) to ensure that once the league resumes, the health and safety of stakeholders would be prioritized.
The Nationals is the country’s first franchise-based eSports league which debuted last year with three games. The league pays monthly salaries to active players and handed out at least P5 million in cash prizes in the inaugural season.
The Nationals players were members of the national team that topped 30th Southeast Asian Games last year, bagging three gold, one silver and one bronze medals in the six-event competition.