As a continuation of last year's championship finals, the League had also scheduled the Riders and Warriors Battle as the season opener.
Promotion for this game started early.
Although the League was still the Nike Alliance, Silva hoped that UA would continue to grow stronger.
This season also had a significant sensitive issue: Adidas's jersey sponsorship agreement with the League was expiring at the end of the season.
Had it not been for the rise of UA, Nike would have long ago become the new jersey sponsor, but now, this position depended on this season's results.
With the League's publicity machines at full tilt, many news stories about the opener were released in quick succession.
The Warriors had received bad news before the start of the season, and it wasn't from a player, but the coach.
