Facebook Gaming and IGM are holding a tournament in Mario Tennis Aces that will raise money for a charity of their choosing. Everyone participating gets an initial $25,000 USD to donate, along with the grand prize winner getting $1 million USD to donate to their finale charity of choice. This “Stay at Home Slam” is a doubles only competition where each person can play in their own home.
The list of participants is wide-ranging, hosting the following teams of:
- Serena Williams and Gigi Hadid
- Naomi Osaka and Hailey Bieber
- Venus Williams and DeAndre Hopkins
- Maria Sharapova and Karlie Kloss
- Kei Nishikori and Steve Aoki
- Madison Keys and Seal
- Taylor Fritz and Addison Rae
- Kevin Anderson and Ryan Tannehill
This is not the only entertaining virtual event to take place inside of a video game, with recent Travis Scott holding virtual concerts inside of the popular game Fortnite, and Star Wars: Rogue One writer hosting his own talk show in the basement of his Animal Crossing house. Many other games have updated to allow people to donate money to help those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Other games such as Minecraft have taken more educational approaches in helping to teach kids about the importance of social distancing and helping out with their academic studies.
John McEnroe will provide commentary for each match, along with YouTube personality iJustine. The “Stay at Home Slam” will be shown on Facebook Gaming and IMG’s Facebook page Sunday, May 3rd at 1 pm PT. Mario Tennis Aces is avalible for Nintendo Switch and feature fan favorites of the franchise such as Princess Peach, Luigi, Bowser, and more.