Despite establishing an esports footprint a couple of years before COVID-19 canceled live sports for a while, the NBA 2K League is only just now coming to traditional TV. While we’ve seen a number of broadcasts for NASCAR, F1, FIFA and Madden in the past few weeks — not to mention other video games like Overwatch, Fortnite, Apex Legends and League of Legends — today the NBA 2K League debuted on ESPN2 with its season-opening games.

The league announced that ESPN has a deal to broadcast matches through out the season, and for the next few weeks at least, that will include live games on ESPN2 every Tuesday night. The rest of the week’s matches will be presented in the ESPN app, all in addition to the streams on Twitch and YouTube.

Now the esports pros will take center stage, however in this third season, the plan is to play at least the first six weeks remotely, for obvious reasons. There are 23 teams participating, including the first one that’s not linked to an NBA franchise with the Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai, and over the first six weeks they’ll all play at least eight matches. The best-of-three competitions start at 7 PM ET from Tuesday through Friday each week.

The plan is for the league’s broadcast to take place from a virtual studio, and switch between games in real-time to focus on whatever action is most exciting. A League Pass / Redzone style experience is an interesting approach for esports, presented as a simulcast via Twitch and YouTube.

NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue said in a statement: “We are thrilled to officially tip off the 2020 NBA 2K League season remotely and hope the excitement of NBA 2K League competition provides both new and returning fans with a fun way to stay connected and engage with our league during these unprecedented times.”

NBA 2K League start of season schedule:

• May 5 – 8 Regular Season – Week 1

• May 12 – 15 Regular Season – Week 2

• May 19 – 22 Regular Season – Week 3

• May 26 – 29 Regular Season – Week 4

• June 2 – 5 Regular Season – Week 5

• June 9 – 12 Regular Season – Week 6

Just a day after two NBA players tested positive for COVID-19 and the league announced it would suspend activities for at least thirty days, its esports arm followed suit. The NBA 2K League will postpone the start of its season, which was planned for March 24th. Of course, unlike the real game, esports can be played online and the league said in a statement that “in the coming weeks” it will hold preseason competitions remotely.

According to NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue, “We will continue to evaluate the situation and do everything possible to bring the excitement of the NBA 2K League to our fans through remote preseason exhibitions and other content. We look forward to sharing additional information about these exhibitions and the start of the 2020 season as it becomes available.”