In 2023, the Tampa Bay Rays hosted the inaugural ¡®Sunburst Invitational¡¯. An MLB The Show series featuring two (2) online tournaments, eligible for players of age 13+ in the US and Canada. With nearly 1,000 competitors, Zach Phillips (Zazzi) was crowned the 2023 Champion after winning the finals LAN event in Orlando, FL.

This year, the Sunburst Invitational featured FOUR (4) online tournaments, free to enter and eligible for players of age 13+ in the US and Canada. The winners of each of the four qualifier tournaments were flown to to St. Petersburg, FL as they competed for a share of a $10,000 CASH PRIZE in the Sunburst Invitational Championship presented by Visit St.Pete-Clearwater and hosted at Coastal Creative.

• Qualifier #1: Frostie (MN) def Manphs (WA): 5-1, 4-2
• Qualifier #2: Alex (VA) def CafeLovesBR (TX): 14-19, 17-16, 11-1
• Qualifier #3: Kriner (PA) def CafeLovesBR (TX): 12-8, 10-8
• Qualifier #4: GoatRP (NJ) def CafeLovesBR (TX): 8-4, 2-3, 11-2

All Qualifier finals and Championship events were hosted by ¡®MLB The Show¡¯ streamers Rich Veit (@ScuffyMcgee) and Tyler Dimmu (@DaddyDimmuTV) live on the Rays Baseball Gaming Twitch and TikTok channels. To stay up to date with the latest tournament news and 2025 updates join the Rays Gaming Discord server.

The LAN Semi-Finals and Finals were played on August 1 and August 2 at Coastal Creative (St. Petersburg, FL). All matches featured a best-of-three series with each player required to play with the Tampa Bay Rays live roster.

In the first semi-final matchup, GoatRP (NJ) defeated Frostie (MN) by a score of 3-7, 3-2, 4-3.

In the second semi-final matchup, AlexGaKill (VA) defeated Kriner (PA) by a score of 8-1, 9-10, 7-6.

On August 2, 2024, GOATRP was crowned the Sunburst Invitational Champion defeating AlexGaKill by a score of 3-0 and 11-1.

Format: All registered and eligible participants will be entered into this double-elimination, MLB The Show 24 tournament. All games are 9 innings best-of-one with a 10-run mercy after 5 innings. The finals of the Sunburst Invitational Qualifier events along with the Sunburst Invitational Championship final will be a best-of-three match to determine the winner.

The following settings are to be used in all Match play during the Online Qualifier Rounds and Finals Event:

• Cross play: ON (network setting)
• Add friends: ON (network setting)
• Messaging: ON (network setting)
• Mode: Exhibition
• Team: Tampa Bay Rays Live Roster
• Stadium: Tropicana Field (Higher ¡°seed¡± in bracket will be home)
• Hitting: Legend
• Pitching: Legend
• Guess Pitch: OFF
• Quick Counts: OFF
• Strike Zone: ON
• Hot Zone: OFF
• Balks: OFF
• Umpire Accuracy: Perfect
• Umpire close plays: OFF
• Ejections: OFF
• Injuries: OFF
• Presentation mode: Fast Play
• Created ballplayers are not permitted.