NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

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2025 Championship

The Road to Nationals

Each stop of the Pop-A-Shot National Series crowns one winner to advance to the National Championship, airing on ESPN. Here's how the action has unfolded so far.

  • 2025 National Championship

    August 1st, 2025 – Orlando, FL

    In a night of nail-bitting finishes, Scott Setzke of Michigan emerged victorious.  Shooting 90% and averaging 140+ points, Setzke shocked the competition and has taken the title as the Pop-A-Shot National Champ. Michael Pashkow finished runner-up, but not before he took out the defending champion, Josh Caputo, in the semifinals.

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  • 2025 Las Vegas Qualifier

    July 10-12, 2025 – NBA2K26 Summer League

    We showed up big at NBA Summer League, taking over the concourse at Thomas & Mack Arena with four Elite games and nonstop action. Across three days, over 5,200 games were played! The talent was deep, but the final hour turned electric as the top players battled side-by-side in a race for the #1 score. In the end, just five points separated the top five finishers, with MURPH's blistering 164 qualifying him for the National Championship. 

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  • 2025 Chicago Qualifier

    June 11th, 2025 – Sluggers Bar

    The line was all the way to the door at Sluggers, as 150+ competitors showed up for one of the season’s last chances to qualify for the 2025 Pop-A-Shot National Championship. Experience played a big role, with many of the top scorers being familiar faces from past Qualifiers. Perseverance paid off for Scott Setzke from Detroit, Michigan, who captured the win after also making the top 8 at our St. Louis event. On the flip side, it was repeat heartbreak for fan favorite Kevin C, who took 2nd in St. Louis and again finished 2nd in Chicago. Congrats, Scott—and keep going, Kevin! Hope to see you both in Las Vegas.

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  • 2025 St. Louis Qualifier

    May 22nd, 2025 – Ballpark Village

    The scores keep getting higher and higher. The 8 seed in the Finals bracket qualified with 120pts, 15 points higher than the 8th seed's qualifying score in San Antonio. The Finals was a who's who of Pop-A-Shot (relatively speaking) with a field that included Brett Morze-Karzen, our '24 Nationals runner-up, Superbowl QB Brad Johnson, and the man who took home the whole thing -Qualifier champ Michael Pashkow.

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  • 2025 San Antonio Qualifier

    April 6th, 2025 – Idle Beer Hall

    Competitors from Austin, Dallas, Milwaukee and NYC traveled in to compete with the San Antonians. 8 competitors advanced to bracket play, with high scores ranging from 143 to 105. But the story of the day was Nick Demarinis, who's delayed flight from Florida allowed him only two Open Play games, just enough to score a 115 and advance as the #5 seed. It was all Nick from there on out, as he didn't drop a game throughout bracket play, and walked away with the W. 

    Watch Finals Matchup

  • 2025 San Francisco Qualifier

    February 14-16th, 2025 – NBA Crossover

    Held inside the NBA Crossover experience, the SF Qualifier featured over 1,800 players competing on the new Pop-A-Shot Elite. Nearly 3,500 games were played! Jarrod Shappell and Jon Taburaza ended the weekend with the highest scores, punching their ticket to the 2025 National Championship. 

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  • 2024 National Championship

    August 2nd, 2024 – Rock Hill, SC

    For the first time in 25 years, we hosted a National Championship!  And it all aired on ESPN 2 on August 2nd, 2024 as part of ESPN the Ocho events. The field started with 8 competitors and it all narrowed down to one. The winner was a 37 year old, father of two, who put up an outstanding performance with a high score of 153.  Josh Caputo didn't lose a single matchup as he glided to a National Championship chain. Caputo led all competitors with a 68.9% shooting percentage, averaged 69 shots per game played, and averaged 120 points per game with the new scoring/bonus time format.

    Watch Broadcast

  • 2024 Chicago Qualifier

    July 10th, 2024 – Barstool River North

    The Chicago Qualifier brought out the best Pop-A-Shotters in the Midwest! Brett Morse-Karzen ended up with the top score on the night and earned his spot in the 2024 Pop-A-Shot National Championship on August 2nd on ESPN 2.

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