HITN, UBEAT Team Up to Host First-Ever High School Esports Tournament in NYC

On Saturday, a group of students representing high schools from across New York City’s five boroughs will meet in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to battle it out in the first ever Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament. The tournament, which is being presented by UBEAT (MEDIAPRO Group) and HITN (Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network), is being produced by esports infrastructure company Nerd Street Gamers and will be live streamed globally via UBEAT.TV. 

All the participating high schools are sending their best gamers to the event. These students have been training for months – working on their gaming skills and developing the strategies they’ll need if they want to snatch up the UBEAT trophy for their school. Participating students will also have the opportunity to win a $2,000 grand prize, as well as other prizes including gift cards and custom T-shirts.

“The esports industry is booming. In the last decade we’ve seen esports grow from streamed underground events to worldwide, televised programs,” says Michael D. Nieves, HITN’s president and CEO, co-sponsor of the tournament. “However, we also noticed not enough Hispanic gamers and young women who enjoy video games are participating in this growing sport. That’s why HITN and UBEAT made sure to include young Hispanics and young women with this tournament.”

While many of these students are familiar with the esports tournament circuit, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament will be a different experience for most of these students since it will be livestreamed across the world.

“Esports for the Mediapro Group is an instrumental part of its strategy in innovation and outreach to reach the gaming community and modern audiences through new contents. Being a part of the first ever esports High School Tournament in New York, alongside our partners at HITN, is a key point to explore in the evolution of our multiplatform content,” says Marta Ruiz director for UBEAT (MEDIAPRO Group), also a co-sponsor of the tournament. UBEAT is an esports and gaming multiplatform (linear channel, web and mobile app).

The high schools participating in the tournament include: Urban Assembly Bronx Academy of Letters; Newtown High School in Queens; Brooklyn Technical High School; Media and Communication High School in Manhattan and Maspeth High School in Queens. Esports clubs of up to 20 students will represent each school.

The winning school in New York will face the winner of another tournament taking place in Chicago next month. The final tournament between New York City and Chicago will be held in May 2020.