Adidas and EA partnered together to host the FIFA 22 Challenge on October 21st, a one-day competitive tournament that pairs top professional soccer players and FIFA players together in 2v2 matches. A precursor to the upcoming FIFA Global Series (FGS) for 2022, the FIFA 22 Challenge marked the first EA-sanctioned FIFA 22 competition that showcased 2v2 matches, a new format that will become a mainstay throughout the next FGS season. The teams were as follows:
Team EA:
- Timo Werner (Chelsea) and SaNkHs (Case Esports)
- Adebayo Akinfenwa (Wycombe Wanderers) and Tom (Excel Esports)
- Diogo Jota (Liverpool) and Tekkz (Fnatic)
- Layvin Kurzawa (Paris Saint-Germain) and Levi (Team Gullit)
Team Adidas:
- Weston McKennie (Juventus) and RocKy (Team Vitality)
- Pedri González (FC Barcelona) and Gravesen (DUX Gaming)
- Ferran Torres (Manchester City) and Matias (Team Heretics)
- Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) and Lisa (JLingz Esports)
The event featured a viewership reward program, which gave individuals the chance to earn skins and FGS tokens, which can be swapped for in-game packs. EA also revealed a new FIFA Ultimate Team content update coming in November in partnership with Adidas.
The FIFA 22 Challenge is a sequel to EA’s most-watched esports broadcast of all time, the FIFA 21 Challenge. Last year’s event drew an average minute audience of 254,057 with a total watch time of more than 1 million hours – more than doubling the previous viewership record set in 2018 by the FIFA Global Series FUT Champions Cup: Barcelona.
(All information was provided by Esports News UK and EA)