The NHL announced the creation of the ‘House of Chel,’ a three-day gaming experience taking place from Thursday, Jan. 24 to Saturday, Jan. 26. The event will be hosted in Palo Alto, Calif., at a mansion belonging to Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy.
House of Chel coincides with the NHL’s All-Star Weekend festivities, which take place this weekend in San Jose. The gaming event will feature professional gamers and popular esports personalities competing against each other in the NHL 19 video game by EA Sports. J.T. Brown, an avid gamer and current Minnesota Wild forward, will also participate in the House of Chel gaming extravaganza, which is set to stream on the NHL’s Twitch channel.
“What’s so cool, and very unique to sports, is that one minute you can be playing and streaming EA SPORTS NHL 19 on your console and the next minute you can turn on your TV and see the live game action and the NHL players you have been virtually playing with,” Brown said in the NHL’s press release. “I was thrilled when the NHL invited me to participate in the House of Chel and am very excited to connect with the gaming community over the three-day event.”
Joining Brown will be popular gamers and content creators such as FaZe Clan Bass, GlitterXplosion, and Andrew “Nasher” Telfer. The event will feature many special guests and will be hosted by television personality Marissa Roberto and Coach Jeremy, who founded the “How To Hockey” YouTube channel. In addition to playing NHL 19, the gamers will also take part in a series of challenges set around the various aspects of the video game, while integrating the mansion’s various amenities. McNealy’s home is equipped with an ice rink, golf course, movie theater, sports court, pizza room, massage room, game room, and turf field.
“Creating the House of Chel is going to take the NHL’s commitment to showcasing EA’s NHL video gaming product to our fans and content creators, while taking Year Two of the NHL Gaming World Championship to the next level,” said Keith Wachtel, NHL EVP of Global Partnerships & Chief Revenue Officer, in the press release.
Several NHL corporate partners will have advertisements that activate throughout the event. Fans can stay connected to House of Chel action by following the #NHLGWC hashtag on Twitter.
SportTechie Takeaway
The NHL’s House of Chel gaming experience comes less than a year after the league hosted its inaugural NHL Gaming World Championship in June 2018. That esports tournament was held in Las Vegas and offered a $100,000 prize pool. More details on the 2019 tournament will be announced in February, according to the NHL.