Last spring the Finnish Hockey League, as many other sports leagues around the world, was canceled. As a response to the feedback from the hockey community, the season was finished unofficially online through the NHL 20 console game. The ePlayoffs finals gathered over 165 000 unique viewers in total. The fan reception was overwhelmingly positive throughout the execution.
“It is safe to say that ePlayoffs exceeded our wildest expectations. We received tons of positive feedback from both the teams and the hockey community. The positive feedback is what inspired us to move forward with an official esports league. We are thrilled to launch the first-ever season of eLiiga,” says Aija Saha, Marketing Manager of Finnish Hockey League.
eLiiga will be played using the NHL 21game and every team in the league will be represented by Finland’s top 1v1 players. Games are broadcasted by Telia and MTV, the biggest commercial TV-channel in Finland. NHLGamer is involved in this project as part of the production.
“We are very thrilled to continue our cooperation with the Finnish Hockey League after our first successful outing with the ePlayoffs. The new series aims to reach fans of traditional hockey as well as esports. We see eLiiga as an important part of bringing new fans to the whole esports scene,” says Niklas Segercrantz from Telia Esports Series.
In 2019 Telia launched Telia Esports Series and ever since its foundation the series has steadily grown and this year alone they have successfully expanded from Finland to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. This summer Telia Esports Series also announced an official eFootball league together with Veikkausliiga, the premier division of Finnish Football.
“Launching eLiiga means that Finland’s two largest sports series now have their esports counterparts. Finland is embracing esports on a truly impressive level and we are proud to be a part of it. We aim to help esports players of all levels to rise to the top,” concludes Segercrantz.
eLiiga will begin on the 1st of November and the premium partner for the league is PlayStation.
“PlayStation is excited to be a partner of eLiiga as the +500k strong Finnish PlayStation community loves sports games. Ice hockey is clearly close to the heart of our players with EA SPORTS NHL being the most popular sports game in Finland,” says Suman Rath, General Manager of PlayStation in the Nordics.
How to participate
Aside from being involved in the league production, NHLGamer will be organizing the official eLiiga Näytön Paikka (=showcase) tournament, which allows players a platform to show their skills in hopes of impressing the Liiga clubs. Each club will be represented by two players.
To participate in the qualifying tournament, sign up here. Please fill in the form carefully, as it allows both our staff and the clubs participating in the eLiiga to contact you if necessary.
NOTE! Participation in the Screen Place tournament is NOT a guarantee that you will represent clubs. Each club conducts its own player selection and contract negotiations.
Other relevant information:
- Telia Esports Series website
- Tournament Rules: eLiiga Näytön Paikka tournament rules
- Please join NHLGamer's Discord server to make it easier to communicate with the other players and our staff:
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