EA Sports has introduced the Madden NFL “The Yard” Invitational, a unique team-based competition using the popular backyard football-inspired game mode. Top Madden NFL 21 players and influencers will team up to compete in the new format.
The first day of the invitational will feature 16 of the best Madden NFL pros competing in a two-vs-two round-robin style tournament. Here are the eight teams competing in the event:
- BND: Henry Leverette and Pavan Lakhat
- 818: Shay “Kiv” Kivlen and Wesley Gittens
- ELI: Jordan “Millz” Thompson and Dwayne “CleffTheGod” Wood
- EMB: Tony “Young Tony” Calloway and Frank “Stiff” Sardoni Jr.
- Tew Dewds: Kyle “KMaC” McAllister and Eric “Problem” Wright
- DRI/JCP: Drini Gjoka and Joel “JoelCP” Crooms-Porter
- TNC: Jacob “Fancy” Worthington and Jacob “Jwall” Wallack
- YGNJ: Noah “Noahupnxt” Johnson and Jonathan “Jonbeast” Marquez
The Yard game mode is traditionally a one-vs-one experience, but the invitational introduces a team element that could appear in future iterations of the Madden Championship Series. Competitors can also customize their jerseys and avatars in the game mode and will compete on the new backyard-style Pizza Hut virtual football field designed for the event.
After the initial competition, the invitational will feature influencers and streamers YoBoyPizza, Dockery, Kristopher London, and Erin Ashely Simon acting as team captains in an NFL-style draft. Each coach will select one of the final four teams and will watch a pre-produced video from each team explaining why the captains should pick them. The Madden community will decide which team captain picks first by voting during the broadcast.
On Saturday, March 6, the team captains will compete alongside their selected team in a three-vs-three best-of-five semifinals and finals showdown to claim the first Madden NFL “The Yard” Invitational championship.
Madden NFL competitive gaming commissioner Matt Marcou expressed his excitement about the mode in a press release.
“The Madden NFL ‘The Yard’ Invitational is unlike anything we’ve done before,” Marcou said. “This is a fast-paced, dynamic game mode, which will offer fans and players another opportunity to experience the excitement of team-based Madden NFL gameplay. It’s a glimpse into how we might experiment with this format for future Madden competitions.”
The Yard invitational is scheduled to start on March 5 and 6 at 5pm CT. Fans can watch the event live on the Madden NFL Twitch channel or YouTube page.
