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Football clubs branching out into e-sports

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Growing in leaps and bounds Riot Games are attracting a lot of interest worldwide.
Growing in leaps and bounds Riot Games are attracting a lot of interest worldwide.

With millions pouring into the sport in sponsorship and prize money, it is becoming more popular

When Rafael Nadal beat Russian Daniil Medvedev a fortnight ago over five sets in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York to lift the US Open trophy, the Spaniard was presented with a winners’ cheque for $3.85 million (R56.6 million).

Fewer than two months earlier, another tournament had been hosted in the same stadium.

That time, the winner, called Bugha, won $3 million.

Luckily for Bugha – whose real name is Kyle Giersdorf – the three-day tournament was held over a weekend, so the 16-year-old from Pottsgrove in Pennsylvania, US, did not have to miss too much school to participate in the solo competition of this year’s Fortnite World Cup finals.

The competition is one of a growing number of e-sports events that are not only played by millions around the world, but are also becoming real alternatives to mainstream sports.

The 23 700-seater Arthur Ashe Stadium was sold out for the event, with millions watching the games between the players live on various platforms.

Bugha is by no means the only big money player on the e-sports scene, with Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, Johan “NOtail” Sundstein, Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen and Sébastien “Ceb” Debs sharing the first prize of $15.6 million for winning the International Dota 2 tournament a few weeks ago.

Denmark’s NOtail is the current top earner, having won $6.9 million in prize money so far in his career.

With so much prize money on offer, so many participants and so many fans watching the events, it was obvious that professional football clubs could no longer afford to ignore it, and many of the top clubs throughout Europe now have an e-sports section.

There is some conflict within the gaming world, with one faction saying that they have no interest in becoming a good Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Agüero or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – they do not want to simulate footballers, they want to become the best N0tail, JerAx or Bugha there is

Not surprisingly, the majority of e-sports projects that football clubs have ventured into are based on actual football, such as the EA Sports Fifa game, which is played under official licence from the sport’s world governing body.

There is some conflict within the gaming world, with one faction saying that they have no interest in becoming a good Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Agüero or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – they do not want to simulate footballers, they want to become the best N0tail, JerAx or Bugha there is.

At the moment, that step seems a step too far for most football clubs.

A notable exception is German Bundesliga club Schalke 04, who hired a former professional player, Tim Reichert, to head their e-sports division.

Reichert, together with his brother Benjamin and Musa Celik, played in the German second division for Rot Weiss Oberhausen.

In 1997, they formed the clan SK Gaming and entered various competitions, playing Hearthstone, Fifa, League of Legends and Paladins. In 2016, Schalke decided to enter the League of Legends market and employed Reichert as their head of the newly formed e-sports division.

When Schalke joined the League of Legends European Championship, they became the fourth club after Besiktas of Turkey, Santos FC and Remo, both of Brazil, to play professional League of Legends. Schalke has since expanded to include Fifa and Pro Evolution Soccer.

Reichert said they did not want to ignore football gaming: “It just makes sense to have both relevant football simulations within our e-sports department.”

Schalke, however, consider League of Legends as the best possible way to grow their brand.

I don’t know if there are football matches of Schalke watched by as many people as League of Legends World Championship matches.

“With League of Legends, for example, we at Schalke are much more the focus of media attention, rather than being successful with our Fifa players at the World Cup.

“The viewership here is good, but, as we all know, the world is completely different,” Reichert said.

“I don’t know if there are football matches of Schalke watched by as many people as League of Legends World Championship matches.”

The former professional footballer explained that the differences between traditional football and e-sports were becoming ever more blurred, with players being transferred and clubs paying transfer fees.

“Our League of Legend players live in Berlin because the games are played there. Our team trains with a coach for six hours a day and then plays over the weekend.

“The league consists of 10 teams from all over Europe,” he said.

In October 2016, Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi announced that the club would be forming an e-sports division to compete in various games, including Fifa, for which they signed two-time Fifa e-World Cup champion August “Agge” Rosenmeier.

They also signed youngster Lucas “DaXe” Cuillerier, who has since gone on to win the Fifa 17 World Championship, giving the French club their first international trophy.

Since then, more professional football clubs have joined the e-sports revolution and it seems likely that trend will grow as the importance of the “new” sport gains even more traction.

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