UEFA pushes button on second edition of eEuros on Konami’s PES platform
October 22 – UEFA has launched the second of its national team esports competition – eEuro 2021 – which will complete with a London final in the summer next year.
esports
FIFA rebrands its esports and builds prize pool to $4.35m for new season
October 15 – FIFA has restructured its esports tournaments with three new competitive pathways and a combined prize money pot of $4.35 million. It has also rebranded with a new design under the tagline ‘Fame your game’.
DFL builds its esports commitment with new long term EA Sports deal
September 29 – Germany’s DFL has renewed its 20-year partnership with EA Sports and its FIFA franchise for another ‘multi-year’ term.
Virtual Bundesliga lines up 26 clubs for new season start in November
August 25 – The Virtual Bundesliga esports club championship has been expanded to 26 clubs for its third season that will be played on the FIFA 21 video game.
eToro pushes digital with sleeve sponsorship of AS Monaco’s esports team
August 24 – Trading platform eTorohas expanded its football marketing activity into France taking the left sleeve sponsorship patch on the AS Monaco Esports shirt in a two-year deal.
FIFA video-game maker Electronic Arts enjoys record $1.46bn quarter revenues
By David Owen
August 3 – Pandemic-related lockdowns and travel restrictions have wreaked havoc with football schedules. But the enforced isolation of individuals and family groups for weeks on end in many soccer-mad countries is evidently doing no harm at all to the video-gaming and esports booms.
FIFA extends eChallenger Series, as esports revenue streams grow
By David Owen
July 10 – FIFA is suckling on the teat of its increasingly productive esport cash cow just a little more vigorously, unveiling plans on Friday for an extension of the FIFA eChallenger Series, along with games-maker EA Sports.
LaLiga renews EA Sports in 10-year deal with focus on growing eLaLiga Santander
June 25 – Electronic Arts and LaLiga have extended their partnership in a 10-year deal that will keep EA Sports’ FIFA title as the league’s official and exclusive video games partner.
FIFA launch national team eChallenger series in Asia
June 23 – FIFA and EA Sports have returned to the football esports market in Asia with the launch of a new competition to be played this month to replace the FIFA eChampions Cup Spring 2020.
Aguero, Zinchenko and Man City join CFG clubs for in-house esports challenge
June 12 – Manchester City and their seven-sister clubs owned by the City Football Group (CFG) will be competing against each other in an in-house esports challenge Saturday 13.
Wolves change esports gear with Gulf Racing hook-up for Le Mans Virtual
June 2 – Premier Peague Wolverhampton Wanderers have accelerated their eSports activity via a partnership with Gulf Racing for the 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual.
One competition UEFA will finish: eEURO 2020 finals kick-off Saturday
May 22 – UEFA will have some national team competitive action this weekend when 16 teams compete in the eEURO 2020 final tournament.
European Leagues launches 8-nation esports tournament
May 12 –European Leagues, the body that represents Europe’s professional leagues, is entering the esports arena with a competition that will feature eight of its national members.
eSports pick up the slack for football fans and punters with record numbers reported
April 24 – With esports booming across the board and football’s clubs and league keen to get in on the action, the Football Management game has reported an all-time high of 189.230 users for March, a 43% rise on the previous month.
Survey confirms shift to betting on esports during shutdown
By David Owen
April 17 – New research gives an indication of the size of the hit the sports gambling sector can expect as a consequence of the COVID-19-inspired shutdown, while also confirming that some gamblers are looking on esports with renewed interest.