A full schedule with match times and bracket sizes can also be found on your Competitions page.
Important Dates
Event | Dates |
Fall ‘25 Enrollment Opens | 6/30/2025 |
Enrollment Closes | 9/26/2025 at 11:59 PM league time |
Preseason | Weeks of 9/15/2025 and 9/22/2025 |
Regular Season | Weeks of 9/29/2025 - 11/17/2025 |
Playoffs | Week of 12/1/2025 |
Championships | 12/13/2025 |
Match Times
Weekday | Game/Activity | Match Time |
Tuesdays |
| 3:00 PM ET |
Wednesdays |
| 3:00 PM ET |
Wednesdays |
| 4:00 PM ET |
Thursdays |
| 3:00 PM ET |
Thursdays |
| 4:00 PM ET |
Titles that are updated on a yearly cadence are subject to unique schedules and rulebook changes until the upcoming release date is confirmed by our partners. Esports programs should not purchase these titles until the version used for PlayVS competitions has been confirmed.
ESSEF Fall ‘25 Schedule
All schools will play a total of 7 matches over 8 weeks. Schools will select 1 week as part of their Break Week Inclusion. There will be no matches scheduled for the school’s selected break week across all enrolled esport titles.
Preseason is optional but participation is strongly recommended!
Holidays
Holiday | Date |
Labor Day | 9/01/2025 |
Indigenous Peoples’ Day | 10/13/2025 |
Veteran’s Day | 11/11/2025 |
Thanksgiving week | 11/24/2025 |
Christmas week | 12/22/2025 |
To accommodate holidays, matches will be rescheduled to the following:
Indigenous People’s Day: Matches occurring on Monday, 10/13/2025 will be rescheduled to Friday, 10/17/2025.
Veterans Day: Matches occurring on Tuesday, 11/11/2025 will be rescheduled to Monday, 11/10/2025.
Preseason
Date: Weeks of 9/15/2025 and 9/22/2025
Week | Date |
1 | 9/15/2025 |
2 | 9/22/2025 |
Regular Season
Date: Weeks of 9/29/2025 - 11/17/2025
Week | Date |
1 | 9/29/2025 |
2 | 10/06/2025 |
3 | 10/13/2025 |
4 | 10/20/2025 |
5 | 10/27/2025 |
6 | 11/03/2025 |
7 | 11/10/2025 |
8 | 11/17/2025 |
Playoffs
Dates: Week of 12/1/2025
Playoff start dates & times may vary per league based on factors like bracket size, state league accommodations, broadcast accommodations, or game launch accommodations.
Day | Date | Title | Bracket |
Monday | 12/1/2025 | Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Solos | Top 32 |
Monday | 12/1/2025 | Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Trios | Top 32 |
Tuesday | 12/2/2025 | Marvel Rivals | Top 8 |
Tuesday | 12/2/2025 | Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe | Top 16 |
Tuesday | 12/2/2025 | Rocket League | Top 16 |
Wednesday | 12/3/2025 | Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Solos | Top 16 |
Wednesday | 12/3/2025 | Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Trios | Top 16 |
Thursday | 12/4/2025 | Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe | Top 8 |
Thursday | 12/4/2025 | Rocket League | Top 8 |
Friday | 12/5/2025 | Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Trios | Top 8 |
Titles are grouped based on enrollment to moderate school resources and ensure teams can compete in multiple matches within a given week. The game titles in each group will be updated here and shared in Coach Notes before the playoffs!
ESSEF Championships
Date: 12/13/2025
Venue: Syracuse University - Schine Student Center | 200 Waverly Ave, Syracuse, NY 13210
Broadcast: https://www.twitch.tv/empirestatesef
Title | Bracket | Time |
Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Solos | Top 8 | 9:30 AM |
Rocket League | Top 4 | 9:30 AM |
Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe Marvel Rivals | Top 4 | 10:00 AM |
Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Trios
| Top 4 | 10:15 AM |
Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Solos | Top 4 | 11:30 AM |
Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Solos | Finals | 1:00 PM |
Rocket League | Finals | 1:30 PM |
Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe Marvel Rivals | Finals | 2:30 PM |
Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Trios | Finals | 4:00 PM |
Reminders
Any team that forfeits three (3) or more regular season matches will not be eligible for Playoffs or Championships.
Playoff start dates & times may vary per league based on factors like bracket size, state league accommodations, broadcast accommodations, or game launch accommodations.
More specific playoff information will be found in PlayVS on your schedule page midway through the regular season.
Due to the length of period for playoffs to take place before finals, Playoff matches will occur on different days of the week than the regular season.
Winning teams may also be required to play multiple times in a week as they progress through the Playoffs.