Global esports organization Gen.G and McDonald’s Southern California franchisees will be organizing and executing a series of esports initiatives focused on Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs, including a multi-week play-in tournament for employees only and a three-day NBA 2K21 All-Star tournament to determine the best young players in Southern California. Both programs aim to empower Southern California gamers and give them an opportunity to gain recognition and prizes.
“We know many Southern California McDonald’s crew members are avid gamers at home, so we wanted to offer new ways for them to connect, have fun and show off their talents in what they’re passionate about,” says Chris Rowe, McDonald’s Southern California franchisee and owner of eight McDonald’s restaurants in San Diego County. “We’re doubling down on our commitment to enhancing the employee experience for our restaurant crew and couldn’t be more excited to partner with Gen.G on our first own esports initiative.”
The McDonald’s Crew League will kick-off on Jan. 12 with a six-week play-in tournament hosted for employees of Southern California McDonald’s restaurants who will choose to compete in either NBA 2K21, FIFA, Smash Bros, or Madden. The tournament will culminate in a live playoff broadcast on Twitch.tv with prizes awarded to top performing individual players and a trophy awarded to the winner’s franchise location. The goal of the program is to strengthen crew connections, foster employee pride in McDonalds, and to offer current and future employees an exciting new way to engage with coworkers. The Crew League has players competing from 38 franchise locations.
The McDonald’s SoCal All-Stars will begin on January 30, 2021 with two days of intense NBA 2K21 gameplay to determine the best young players in southern California. Days 1 & 2 will feature a play-in tournament where qualifying matches are held to help determine the top 12 competitors who will move on to compete live on Twitch.tv to determine the winners. Each team will be captained by a Gen.G pro player or coach during the finals. One team will have the (1), (4), (5), (8), (10) seeds with the (2), (3), (6), (7), and (9) seeds comprising the other team, and they will compete in a best of three series. Sign up link here: https://bit.ly/2ksocalmcdallstars
“Our initiative with McDonald’s really shows the power of gaming to connect communities in a whole new way,” adds Jordan Sherman, Head of Revenue Operations with Gen.G. “It’s become even more meaningful when you have a partner like McDonald’s who truly wants to innovate in this space to leverage gaming & esports to provide value and opportunity to their consumers and employees. We’re really excited to watch the leagues unfold.”
