ESPN FC Champions Cup Announced

ESPN FC is teaming up with EA Sports and Virgin Gaming to present to soccer fans on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 the ESPN FC Champions Cup, ESPN’s major online gaming tournament including the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil and Latin America. Powered by Virgin Gaming, the two overall winners on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will win an all-expense paid trip to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn. for the live televised final on ESPN FC and a behind-the-scenes tour of the studios on February 5th. The winner will receive a $2,500 USD grand prize.

Sign-ups are open throughout the qualifying round on VirginGaming.com/ESPNFC, where players can register for a Virgin Gaming account, opt-in to the ESPN FC Champions Cup leaderboards and begin qualifying. All prizing for the ESPN FC Champions Cup will be awarded through Virgin Gaming. The free-to-enter tournament for premium and non-premium users will advance the top two players on each of the four leaderboards into the online bracketed semifinal round.

Every game played in the EA Sports Arena will count towards an overall ranking in the leaderboards. They include:

• Week 1, December 16-22: Most Games Played
• Week 2, December 23-29: Most Wins
• Week 3, January 6-12: Most Goals Scored
• Week 4, January 13-19: Most Shots on Goal

The 16-person bracketed semifinals will be held on January 24-25 in a three round, single elimination game online leading up to the champion of each console. Weekly updates will be featured on ESPN FC throughout the tournament.