Take-Two Interactive Software and the National Basketball Association will be collaborating in an effort to bring eSports and pro sports together. The video game company and NBA have just announced that the partnership will be working together to launch the NBA 2K eSports league.

The NBA 2K eSports league will be the first eSports competitive league to be owned by a major pro sports league in the US. According to NBA.com, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is hoping that the planned basketball eSports league will further expand the NBA's global brand.

According to Bloomberg, the NBA eSports league presents another opportunity to reach gamers more broadly. Matt Holt, NBA's VP for Global Partnership, said that the basketball eLeague will be another chance to engage untapped fans from both the pro league and video game side of the equation.

The NBA 2K eSports league will be a co-ownership between the NBA and Take-Two. The NBA 2K eSports league will feature all the 30 current teams in the NBA making their own basketball eSports team. Each NBA team will operate and support their own five-person NBA 2K eSports league team. The eSports league will mimic what happens in the real NBA as it will also begin with a player combine followed by a draft. The draft will then be followed by 82 regular-season games that will be followed by the playoffs.

All 30 NBA professional teams will eventually have their own eSports basketball team. According to Silver, the NBA 2K eSports league will be starting with 8-12 pro teams represented in 2018 but all the 30 teams will be represented after some time.

Similar eSports league can already be found in Europe featuring soccer. The NBA 2K eSports league is scheduled to begin next year. The basketball eSports league championship is said to take place in an actual NBA arena.