Chicago Fire FC announced today the return of Chicago-based gamer Enrique Espinoza to represent the Club in the upcoming 2020 eMLS season. Espinoza – also a coach for the Chicago Fire Juniors City youth club – is entering his second season as the Fire’s representative in eMLS, the competitive gaming league which next year will feature entrants from 25 MLS clubs seeking to be crowned the best EA SPORTS FIFA 20 player in North America.
In his debut season as an eMLS competitor, Espinoza (gamertag: BITW7) earned a top-6 finish in the 12-team Eastern Conference and advanced to the knockout stages of the 2019 eMLS Cup competition in Boston. Since the beginning of the FIFA20 season, Espinoza has placed in the top 100 in the North American region.
The new season will begin in January 2020 with eMLS League Series presented by PlayStation®, a pair of live, round-robin competitions in the lead-up to eMLS Cup. Each League Series tournament will stream live online and feature their own trophy lift and prizing opportunities.
During the League Series tournaments, eMLS Players also will accumulate points to determine seeding for eMLS Cup. League Series One will be held in Philadelphia in conjunction with the Philadelphia Union. League Series Two will be held in Portland, Ore., in conjunction with the Portland Timbers. The eMLS season will conclude in March in Austin, Texas, when South by Southwest® (SXSW®) hosts eMLS Cup presented by PlayStation® alongside its premier gaming portion of the conference.
eMLS is an Official League Partner of the EA SPORTS™ FIFA 20 Global Series. The winner of eMLS Cup will receive 850 Global Series points, supporting their qualification for the Global Series Playoffs and ultimately the FIFA eWorld Cup. The top 32 competitors in the EA SPORTS™ FIFA 20 Global Series will advance to the FIFA eWorld Cup, where the winner will be crowned the undisputed FIFA20 World Champion.
2020 eMLS Season Schedule:
- Jan. 10 – League Series One (Philadelphia, PA)
- Feb. 15 – League Series Two (Portland, OR)
- March 21 – eMLS Cup (Austin, TX)