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Contact: Jack McGovern
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Quidditch to Air on National Television for First Time

UPDATE: Eleven Sports Network will televise one semifinal series and the finals series of the 2017 Major League Quidditch (MLQ) Championship in League City, Texas. The games will be produced by the network and aired on tape delay in the coming weeks. The release originally stated the games would be televised live.

League City, Texas (August 8, 2017) —  Real-life quidditch is coming to national television for the first time ever in the United States.

Eleven Sports Network will produce and air on tape delay the semifinal series and the finals series of the 2017 Major League Quidditch (MLQ) Championship in League City, Texas on Sunday, Aug. 13. The semifinals will begin at 1 pm CT and the finals will air at 5 pm CT. All games will be aired live on the league’s Facebook page.

The 2017 MLQ Championship will feature the 12 best real-life quidditch teams in the country. Tickets are available for purchase here.

Quidditch is a mixed-gender, full-contact sport now played by over 500 teams in 26 countries. The rules were adapted from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series, which debuted 20 years ago this summer.

MLQ is the highest level of quidditch in North America. The league runs from early June to mid-August and is home to 16 teams across the United States and Canada.

The MLQ Championship is the league’s marquee event. For the first time in league history, teams did not automatically qualify for the tournament. Only the top 12 teams in the standings received an invitation.

The Boston Night Riders are the two-time defending champions and the odds-on favorite. Teams from Austin, Indianapolis and Los Angeles are also expected to challenge for the title.

The teams have been seeded by regular season results and drawn into a best-of-three single-elimination bracket.

Every team in the league holds open tryouts in the spring. The teams recruit players from top college and club quidditch programs. Several of the best players have also competed internationally for Team USA, Team Canada and more.

About Major League Quidditch
Quidditch is a competitive, gender-integrated, full-contact sport played by athletes around the world. Major League Quidditch has set out to create a high-intensity environment for the best athletes in North America to hone their skills and compete for one of our sport’s highest honors: the Benepe Cup. Want to know more about Major League Quidditch? Visit mlquidditch.com or contact us at [email protected].

About ELEVEN SPORTS
ELEVEN SPORTS is available in 70 million homes worldwide in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. Launched in the US in March 2017, ELEVEN SPORTS is dedicated to delivering world-class domestic and international sports and lifestyle entertainment ‘For The Fans’. Sports fans will be treated to a unique mix of emerging and established sports combined to provide engaging and compelling LIVE entertainment, placing the viewer at the very heart of the action.

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