BuzzerBeater Madness
"It used to last only during March, but now... it's all season long!"
Each season, all teams not already participating in the BuzzerBeater's Best tournament across the world compete in a collection of international tournaments known as BuzzerBeater Madness, a supplemental to the B3 tournament. Divided into separate tournament divisions based on their world rankings, teams compete for both fame, fortune and, in case of the top tier winner, a spot in the next season's B3 tournament!
The BuzzerBeater Madness tournaments start with a qualifier stage play during which each team plays seven neutral site games, pairings decided on the Swiss system, similar to chess tournaments. After that, the top 64 teams qualify for a seeded knockout stage that's played in neutral arenas. Just like B3, players must join their teams prior to the knockout phase in order to be eligible.
The games are played each Wednesday, with the players enthusiasm, considering the honor involved, always high. They also gain experience from games, but suffer no long lasting injuries after matches. Playing minutes do not affect their training and game shape, but participating teams are awarded a fixed cash prizes after each win, as follows:
- Final Game: $ 200 000
- Semi-Final: $ 150 000
- Quarter-Final: $ 100 000
- 16-Team round: $ 70 000
- 32-Team round: $ 50 000
- 64-Team round: $ 35 000
- Qualifier Stage Win: $ 25 000