Want to play? Sign up today at stlouisblues.com/esports.
The St. Louis Blues today announced the return of their Blues Gaming competitions this spring.
For the second straight year, the Blues will host their open division tournament, the Blues Gaming NHL 21 Showdown, along with a high school tournament – the Blues Gaming NHL 21 High School Championship.
The return of these events are part of an ongoing development of Blues Gaming, which is an esports division focusing on the creation of engagement opportunities within the gaming and esports community.
Last year’s tournaments saw 512 players compete on both Xbox and PlayStation, along with 22 area high schools represented in the high school tournament.
The tournaments are being created by the Blues in partnership with Maryville University’s Rawlings Sport Business Management Program (RSBM). Students in sports business classes at Maryville are assisting the Blues with the development of both tournaments, while also providing operation support to the games technology partner UGC.
Additionally, Maryville has created and will manage the Gateway Esports Association, designed to support, and promote members’ esports leagues in the Midwest region.
“On the heels of a successful Blues Gaming experience last year, we’re excited to work with Maryville again to assist in developing and running our spring tournaments,” said Steve Chapman, St. Louis Blues Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. “The Blues remain committed to developing a relationship with the esports and gaming communities, while also creating new local opportunities for competitions – both online, and in-person when the time is right.”
The Blues Gaming NHL 21 Showdown begins the week of March 15, and the Blues Gaming NHL 21 High School Championship starts March 22.
Both tournaments will be held online, with the possibility of the finals for each event being held in-person at a designated St. Louis-area location depending on COVID-19 restrictions at the time of those events. Local players or those with the ability to travel to St. Louis at their own expense (should they advance to the final round) are encouraged to enter. Fans wishing to enter the tournaments may register at stlouisblues.com/esports. There is no fee to enter.
“We are happy our Rawlings Sport Business Management program continues to have opportunities for our students to work with the Blues,” said Jason Williams, Assistant Dean, Director and Associate Professor of the Rawlings Sport Business Management Program in the John E. Simon School of Business at Maryville. “Our students have learned a great deal by working with the Blues to bring this opportunity to their fans.”
The Blues Gaming NHL 21 High School Championship will consist of teams from the Mid-States Club Hockey Association, and other area high schools that wish to form a team to compete. Each team will be required to have a minimum of five players. Competition for the high school tournament will be played on Xbox in a best-of-3 round robin format with the winners from each group advancing to play in a best-of-5 championship tournament.
Qualifiers will be held March 22 to May 3, and the championship will be in May. Teams will compete to win the Blues Gaming Cup, a trophy the school will hold onto until the next competition. Much like the Stanley Cup, the name of the winning school will be etched onto the trophy.
The Blues Showdown NHL 21 is an open division competition for any individual desiring to compete. This competition will take place on both Xbox and PlayStation, with one champion being crowned on each console.
Two qualifying open division tournaments will be held in five-week segments. Open Division Tournament 1 will take place March 15 to April 16, and Open Division Tournament 2 will be April 19 to May 21. The top four participants (based on points) will advance to the championship tournament, which will be held in late May. These will be 1v1 competitions with each round leading up to the finals being a three-game series and the finals being a five-game series.
Registration for the NHL 21 Blues Gaming competitions is open now at stlouisblues.com/esports. Registration for Open Division Tournament 1 ends March 10, and registration for Open Division Tournament 2 ends April 14. High School Tournament registration ends March 17.
Blues Gaming is exploring additional gaming activations locally around other popular titles. More information on these initiatives will come at a later date.
Blues Gaming is a founding member of the Gateway Esports Association which also includes World Wide Technology Raceway and the Missouri High School Esports Association. Membership is open to other regional sports organizations desiring to engage with the esports community.
The Rawlings Sport Business Management Program is a project based experiential learning undergraduate degree at Maryville University in St Louis, MO. The program’s signature partner since 2013 is Rawlings Sporting Goods. Ninety-three percent of graduates in the Rawlings Sport Business Management Program begin a career in the business of sports within six months of graduation.
