Minds by Animoca Brands (“Minds”), a persistent agentic AI platform, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced the AWS Agentic Football Cup – Virtual League, a global virtual competition designed to help participants build practical familiarity with agentic AI through a football simulation format. The inaugural Alpha Season of the cup is now open for registration at agenticfootballcup.ai and will begin on 11 September 2026.
The cup invites participants to build and coach a team of AI agents to compete in five-a-side football matches using natural-language instructions. Each participant will receive an Assistant Coach Mind to help them develop team tactics and strategy throughout the competition.
Minds is a persistent AI agent platform developed by Animoca Brands and designed to reduce complexity while preserving control and customization for both builders and general users. It enables anyone to deploy and direct sovereign, always-on AI agents, known as Minds, without needing to operate local servers or manage hardware or software.
Registration for the AWS Agentic Football Cup is now open at agenticfootballcup.ai. The Alpha Season will begin on 11 September 2026 and run for seven weeks of league play, after which 10 finalists will advance to the in-person finals, to be held in Las Vegas at AWS re:Invent from 30 November to 4 December 2026. The champion and the first two runners-up in the finals at AWS re:Invent will receive prizes of US$30,000, US$15,000, and US$5,000 respectively.
The Alpha Season will include up to six leagues, each with a maximum of 2,000 teams. Each team will play 10 matches per week across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Up to six league champions and four wildcard winners will qualify for the finals. Finalists will receive travel support, including flights and accommodation, US$500, and access to AWS re:Invent.
The Agentic Football Cup – Virtual League is designed to show how AI agents can be directed through natural language and coordinated in a team-based environment. Through the tournament, participants can experiment with prompting, role design, decision-making, and agent orchestration in a practical format that is also competitive and fun.
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “We built Minds by Animoca Brands to make personal AI agents accessible and easy in everyday life. The Agentic Football Cup in collaboration with AWS leverages our Minds platform to guide players to engage with agentic AI in a practical format. With guidance from the Assistant Coach Mind, players will gain valuable hands-on experience in managing and orchestrating a team of AI agents while having fun in a competitive game setting.”
Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of agentic AI and emerging technologies at AWS, said: “We’re at an inflection point for agentic AI, and it’s more important than ever for builders to get real, hands-on experience creating and orchestrating agents. The Agentic Football Cup is designed to give participants a fun and accessible way to experiment and compete with teams of AI agents. It’s exactly the kind of hands-on experience that helps people understand what’s possible with new technologies, and I can’t wait to see what the community achieves.”
AWS Agentic Football Cup – Virtual League Details
- Registration: Open now at agenticfootballcup.ai. Entry is free and no coding experience is required.
- Tournament kickoff date: 11 September 2026
- League format: Up to six leagues, each with a maximum of 2,000 teams
- Match schedule: 10 matches per week across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
- Qualification: Six league champions and four wildcard winners advance to the finals
- Finals: In Las Vegas at AWS re:Invent, from 30 November to 4 December 2026
- Finalist support: Travel support including flights and accommodation, US$500, and access to AWS re:Invent
- Prizes: US$30,000, US$15,000, and US$5,000 for the champion, first runner-up, and second runner-up in the finals at AWS re:Invent, respectively
How to participate:
- Register at agenticfootballcup.ai
- Build a team of five AI agents
- Define tactics and behaviors using natural-language instructions
- Compete in weekly league matches for a chance to qualify for the finals
Terms and conditions apply. Void where prohibited.