First U.S. Sumo Wrestling Tour Planned

The Sumo Championship League (SCL) is the first fully funded professional sumo wrestling league set to start with events scheduled in arenas throughout the United States this fall. The first event is set for October 10th at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, Texas near Austin. Total prize money for the event is $15,000. Future events are scheduled for Chicago in November and Ontario, California in December.

So what's the deal with Sumo Wrestling in the U.S. now?

With combat sports and live entertainment continuing to grow globally, audiences increasingly want authentic competition paired with compelling authentic drama, and digital media has created a growing demand for visually dynamic sports content. Sumo already has worldwide recognition and cultural relevance, but no one has built a modern professional league structure around it for today’s audiences. That’s the opportunity we see. We also believe fans are increasingly looking for unique live-event experiences, which creates an opportunity to introduce professional sumo to new audiences through a recurring live-event experience.

Each SCL event is its own tournament. Every wrestler in the field competes against every other wrestler once in an opening round robin; the top finishers advance to a second round, and the leaders from there reach a championship bracket fought best-of-three. The night closes on a championship bout.

Results carry across the season. Every event updates a season-long ranking — SCL’s Sumo Power Rankings, in the banzuke tradition — published after each event. Those standings decide seeding and determine which wrestlers qualify for the SCL Annual Championship, the premier event of the year. The Annual Champion receives the SCL Championship Belt and the rank of Grand Champion (yokozuna).

For more information:  https://sumochampionshipleague.com