TEP @ Expo 2026 - “For The Flip of It” NBA Fastbreak Tournament

Written By Alec
 

2026 Booth Sponsors

 

Dust off your Jordan Air 1’s and call your moms to have her pull out your dopest ‘95 Starter jacket, cause the TEP crew is bringing something completely new to this year’s Pinball Expo 2026 (October 15-17th)!  

 
 

For the first time (ever?!), our good friends at Mad Pinball are bringing not one, but two, NBA Fastbreak games to create a team-based tournament at our booth that we’re calling “For the Flip of It” #FTFOI. Taking advantage of the Fastbreak’s unique head-to-head feature, we’ll be giving Expo attendees the opportunity to compete for some awesome prizes and giveaways that you’re not going to want to miss!

Play linked NBA Fastbreak (1997) at the TEP Booth at Pinball Expo 2026, October 15-17th

Running from Thursday through Saturday, and open to attendees of all ages and skill levels, players will compete as a split flipper team against others in a winner-takes-all format. Each participating player will be given a special punchcard they can use to track their tournament wins for each day at Expo. Players will be able to chalk up to 6 wins per day, so if one match doesn’t go your way just get back in line or come back later throughout the day. 

On Saturday, the top 16 players who have accrued the most number of wins will then compete in a final tournament showdown for the ages. Throughout the tournament, we’ll be bringing in some special guest announcers and pinball personalities to keep the energy up and to compete with fellow participants. 

See below for more details on how it works.

For The Flip of It Tournament - How to Play

  • No purchase necessary, anyone can play.

  • Grab a partner, or stand in line by yourself to be matched - and then play the special NBA Fastbreak linked game experience. A 3 min game where the highest scoring machine wins.

  • For our special version of the experience you’ll be playing split flipper - that’s one player for each flipper button - this means each match is 2 on 2!

  • The winning team will get a punch (and a punch card if it’s your first win of the day). Keep playing (with any partner) to win up to 6 punches each day. Each day features a new punch card, so you can earn up to 18 punches (6 Thur + 6 Fri + 6 Sat).

  • Not showing up until Friday or Saturday? You’ll have the chance to fill Thur and/or Friday makeup punch cards, however those punch cards will only allow for a maximum of 5 punches for those days.

  • Show up at our booth at 5pm on Saturday with your punch cards. The 16 player with the most punches will be qualified for our final 8 team tournament and compete for our top prizes, and of course all the glory!

  • Among the 16 players, 8 teams of 2 will be randomly assigned. If there is a tie in punches amongst any players vying to qualify for the top 16, all of those tied player will compete in a “stall ball” game that will determine the remaining players.

  • The top two teams (4 players) will each receive a specially created basketball jersey and each player from the winning team will receive a specially designed NBA Fastbreak pinball topper (more info here), that will also be a great display piece if you don’t have the game!

More tournament specifics will be coming soon and we look forward to seeing all of you at Expo soon! 

A concept shot of the TEP 2026 Booth at Pinball Expo 2026

Thank you to our guest announcers and volunteeers!

We have a growing list of guest announcer who will be around at various times of the tournament adding some court side commentary to the play. Thanks for those who have already volunteered to weigh in on the action, and if you’d like to learn about your own announcer slot email Alec at alec@teppinball.com.

What is the NPA?

The NPA stands for the National Pinball Association; a fun concept we came up with as part of the event promotions. Who knows what’s in store; join us at EXPO this year and if you enjoy For The Flip of It let us know and we’ll consider doing more events in the future.

What else to see at TEP EXPO 2026?

For all you topper and mod lovers out there, we’ll have some of our latest and greatest toppers on display as well as a custom display featuring Stumblor Pinball’s work in all of its glory! And since seeing is not always believing, we’ll also be hosting two ridiculously pimped out machines so you can truly experience what these enhancements can bring to your collection. Our Duel Deck topper will also be on display on a Star Wars Fall of the Empire machine, courtesy of Atomic Pinball Arcade.

Anyone that puts down a topper deposit at the show will also receive a free t-shirt and we’ll have some custom tournament swag available for purchase at the booth as well. 

Alec
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