We spoke on a previous (perhaps lost) podcast about ESPN’s step into the realm of eSports. We compared it (perhaps foolishly) to TV’s poker boom of the early 2000s. It’s a niche, but it’s a large one that’s growing even larger. But the question still remains if people will watch it at a large scale… say, larger the Stanley Cup Finals, which were seen by roughly 462 people– 12 of them located outside of Pittsburgh.

With that in mind, ESPN2 will broadcast this year’s Madden NFL Championship Game live for the first time. Here are the details from the worldwide leader’s press release:

ESPN2 will televise the Madden NFL 16 Championship from 6:00-7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, June 14. The event will take place from the Novo Theater in Los Angeles, live from EA Play. It will also be available to stream live via WatchESPN. The program marks the first time ESPN2 has delivered live coverage of the Madden NFL Championship series.

This year’s Madden NFL 16 Championship will see finalists competing for a piece of the $50,000 prize pool, and one winner taking home the title.

For a network that is synonymous with sports broadcasting and making the leap into eSports, it’s smart to broadcast this. For casual sports gamers, Madden is the great equalizer. Everyone plays it, has played it, or is at least very familiar with how it works. For the casual eSports watcher, Madden could very easily be the gateway viewing that gets them into the sport. They could also still not care about the market as a whole. But ESPN is at least gonna try to find out.

Kyle: Gonna watch the hell out of this.