The Colorado Rapids have re-signed Brandan Gonzales (Gamertag: Gonzvo) as the club’s professional eSports player. Gonzales will represent the Rapids through the 2021 eMLS competitive season.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to represent Colorado for a second season within eMLS,” Gonzales said. “I’m looking forward to building on my experience last year and bring some success to the club this season. I feel like I can take what I’ve learned and take my game to the next level.”
A Colorado native currently living in Littleton, Gonzales is a remote learning elementary school teacher on top of his competitive eSports career. Representing the Rapids during the 2020 eMLS season, Gonzales reached the eMLS Cup semifinal of the Last Chance Qualifier tournament, falling just short of the live broadcast event. He also competed in all five 2020 Global Series online qualifier events, finishing out the FIFA 20 competitive season as one of the top 200 players globally, ranking 19th overall in the United States, and ranked eighth overall among the 2020 eMLS players competing within FIFA Global Series standings.
In his current FIFA 21 Global Series ranking, Gonzales has accumulated the FIFA Global Series points to be ranked just outside of the Top 100 players in the North America Xbox region.
Colorado is one of 27 clubs competing in eMLS 2021. The eMLS season consists of two competitive tournaments leading to the headline event, the 2021 eMLS Cup. Details on the 2021 eMLS season, including its start date and schedule, will be announced in the near future.
The 2021 eMLS season will begin with League Series One on Jan. 16-17. eMLS League Series Two will take place on Feb. 13-14, before eMLS Cup on March 20-21. Click here from more information about the upcoming eMLS season.
About eMLS:
eMLS is the esports and gaming property of Major League Soccer. Built around the EA SPORTS™ FIFA franchise, its goal is to utilize gaming to reach global audiences, raise the profile of MLS, and grow its next generation of fans. eMLS has grown from 19 MLS Clubs in 2018 to 27 Clubs participating in the upcoming 2021 season. In addition to its core competitive season, eMLS also executes casual gaming programs like the eMLS Tournament Special presented by Coca-Cola and PlayStation which was a five episode 2 vs. 2 FIFA 20 tournament, teaming up MLS first team players with eMLS players, that aired on FS1 and FOX Deportes.
“PlayStation” and “PS4” are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
