The Rival Series is back in action this Friday! Some of the best up-and-coming teams from North America and Europe are set to compete at their chance to join the most elite teams on the planet in the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS). If you’re new to the Rival Series or just want a refresher on how it works, you’re in the right place.

Let’s dive right into it.

What’s the Rival Series?

The Rival Series functions as a path for extremely high level, professional players to compete for their chance to compete at Rocket League’s highest competitive level, the RLCS. Each region (North America and Europe) has ten teams that play in a round-robin League Play over the course of eight weeks.

At the conclusion of League Play, the first-place team from each region will be automatically promoted to the RLCS and replace the tenth-place team from the RLCS that will be automatically demoted to the Rival Series.

Teams that place second and third will enter into the Promotion Tournament where they will face off against the eighth and ninth place teams from the RLCS. The Promotion Tournament will feature a double-elimination format, with the top two teams earning their place in the RLCS and the bottom two going to the Rival Series next season.

How and Where Can I Watch?

You can catch the Rival Series every Friday starting on February 14 on both Twitch and YouTube. The European Rival Series leads the way starting at 10 a.m. PT (6 p.m. UTC) and is followed up by the North American Rival Series which begins at 3 p.m. PT (11 p.m. UTC).

In addition to the Rival Series kicking off this weekend, it’ll also be one of the first broadcasts where you can earn brand new Fan Rewards that were announced earlier this week! If you want to check out the new items and get your accounts linked and ready to go, head HERE.

Don’t Miss Out

The Rival Series is the best way to watch emerging talent before they make their way to the RLCS pitch. Make sure to tune in on February 14 as RLCS hopefuls hit the pitch to see who can seize the opportunity to move up to the big leagues. We’ll see you on Friday!