New York City's first official esports team hosted a Brooklyn pop-up shop with celebrity appearances and tons of video games, and fans couldn't get enough of it

Kevin Webb

Jan 5, 2019, 04:15 IST

New York City's first official esports team hosted a Brooklyn pop-up shop with celebrity appearances and tons of video games, and fans couldn't get enough of it

NYXL

Fans flooded New York Excelsior's weekend pop-up event to meet and play with professionals.

New York Excelsior (NYXL) is a team of professional gamers playing in the Overwatch League.
The esports organization recently took over a retail space in Brooklyn, New York for a 6-week pop-up event.
In addition to letting fans meet the team in person, the pop-up shop offered weekly competitions, the chance to get up close and personal with Grammy-nominated artist Zedd, and NYXL swag from exclusive brands.

For six weekends in a row, fans of the New York Excelsior (NYXL) stormed the Brooklyn storefront hosting the esports team's pop-up shop.

Each weekend brought something new to the space: Visitors were treated to meet-and-greets with the team, an exhibition match with musical artist Zedd, cosplay competitions, exclusive fashion, and, of course, lots of video games.

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Excelsior is New York City's first official esports franchise, and the team will begin their second season of competition in the Overwatch League this February.

While Overwatch League matches are played in Los Angeles, the team enjoys a dedicated fanbase at home. It shouldn't be surprising; NYXL had the best record during the league's inaugural season, and the pop-up helped build even more excitement for the year to come.

Here's what it was like on the scene at the New York Excelsior's Brooklyn pop-up shop:

NYXL's pop-up took over this Atlantic Avenue retail space, near Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

Each weekend, fans of the Excelsior piled in to play "Overwatch" (and other games, like "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), and participate in special events.

All 10 players on the NYXL roster are from South Korea...

But the pop-up shop gave the team some face-to-face time with their American fans.

For fans, the event also gave them a chance to prove their "Overwatch" skills against the pros.

NYXL also held free amateur "Overwatch" tournaments; the winners received $500 each in prize money.

Other special events included a cosplay contest, and invitational events for college and high school esports teams.

Grammy Award-winning DJ and producer Zedd joined in on the fun as an honorary member of the team. Zedd teamed up with NYXL in an exhibition match against their Overwatch League rivals, the Philadelphia Fusion.

For those who didn't bring a costume, streetwear brand UNDEFEATED partnered with NYXL to create a new line of apparel.

Nike released new NYXL sneakers for the pop-up and designer Melody Ehsani created custom NYXL jewelry.

NYXL also partnered with New Era for fitted caps carrying the team's logo.

While the team spends most of the season in Los Angeles, it has built a true community in New York City, judging from the hype around this pop-up shop.

NYXL will compete in season 2 of the Overwatch League starting on Valentine's Day, February 14th.

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