While the Seattle Seahawks work out some of the kinks in their on-field game play this season, the team announced a new initiative this week to attract fans to some gaming off the field.

A new gaming community called Seahawks Sandbox has launched with the intention of bringing the 12s together around weekly video game tournaments in which fans can compete and win prizes. The platform will host 50 different tournaments throughout the season on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC, featuring 14 different sports, racing, battle royale, and fighting game titles, according to the Seahawks.

The team will host tournaments with video game influencers and Seahawks players and more than $5,000 in prizes will be up for grabs during the season.

Seahawks players Quandre Diggs, left, and Tyler Lockett in the game, off the field. (Seahawks Photo)

The Seahawks are also launching a YouTube channel dedicated to the Sandbox effort. Content will be released throughout the year by Seattle gamer and influencer Marcel “BasicallyIDoWrk” Cunningham as well as two-time Madden Club Champion Daniel “Dcroft” Mycroft, with livestreams against a weekly Seahawks opponent and prominent players in the Madden community.

The Seahawks are the first team in the NFL to launch a dedicated gaming YouTube channel. But the team has been engaged in the gaming space for some time, hosting a Madden 17 Championship Tournament in Seattle back in March 2017. They launched the first-ever NFL esports week in 2019 and hosted multiple online tournaments over the last year.

Away from the ultra-competitive esports experience, the Seahawks will also host Minecraft realms for fans who want to build in that popular gaming world.

“We are always looking for opportunities to further engage with our fans off the field, and we know e-sports and gaming is something both our fans and players enjoy,” said Seahawks COO David Young in a statement.

Seahawks Sandbox is hosted on the gaming platform Rival, which connects sports teams and other brands with users interested in engaging in gaming and esports. Professional teams such as the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, as well as European soccer teams, use the platform.

Fans who want in on the action can begin earning points by registering with their gamertag here.

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