It’s been a rough go for Smash Bros. fanatics with offline tournaments and events being cancelled due to coronavirus. There have been several online tournaments being hosted with major prize pools and top players entering, but it still doesn’t quite fill the need.
However, a new online tournament might raise the stakes beyond anything in Super Smash Bros. history.
Top Super Smash Bros. Melee player Hungrybox is teaming up with NFL running back Le’Veon Bell to host “The Box,” a free-to-enter Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament running from May 8th through May 10th with a $10,000 prize pool.
With the postponement of organized sports, Bell has been spending time playing Ultimate online, challenging his followers on Twitter to try and take on his MegaMan. Teaming up with Hungrybox could lead to The Box being the Smash tournament with the most amount of entrants in history.
Le’Veon Bell being a part of this event is just another case of pro athletes getting involved in esports and video games in general; several NBA household names such as Michael Jordan and Steph Curry have invested in various organizations, and former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas was notably involved with the legendary Halo team Final Boss.
Furthermore, the NBA responded to the season being postponed by hosting simulated versions of scheduled games on NBA 2K20 which were also streamed on Twitch.
Due to the prize pool as well as the popularity of Bell and Hungrybox, The Box has a 8,192 entrant cap; there is reason to believe this mark could be hit, considering several of The Quarantine Series tournaments have pulled in over 5,000 entrants.
The trailer for the tournament can be seen here:
If you’re a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player, hurry up and register now; there are already close to 6,000 players registered.
