The German club VfL Wolfsburg was the first sports team to have its own eSports players.It became the first firm alliance in which a "real life" football team and a FIFA team joined forces.
Since then, many things have changed.And clubs that have added their own roster in eSports have been magnified.Clubs such as Baskonia or Valencia CF have their own squads and others such as Sevilla FC, Villarreal, Levante UDo Cadiz are taking their first steps by giving their names to VFO teams.
Outside our walls, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Paris Saint-Germain, Schalke 04, West Ham have done the same.The Manchester City itself seems to have started negotiations for it.In 2015, while Electronic Arts created its dedicated division At eSports, important agreements were signed with German Benedikt Salzer and FIFA Interactive World Cup runner-up Dave Bytheway.
THE LEAGUE OF THE STARS
That football and eSports are living a kind of idyll is something quite positive.In fact, it is strengthened that we would understand as "brand" and also reinforces the representation of sport outside the common channels.That is, if playing FIFA is the digital version of playing real football, where teams consisting of the names, attributes and transfer schedules of real football are used, why shouldn't they?
But outside this strictly commercial framework, it should be noted that eSports and traditional sports are different and, therefore, require different attention.If, in both of them, it is necessary to have technical equipment, advice and good training, work hard to achieve results, but in the eSports very young players coexist-some even below 16 years-with veterans.Players who, in addition, will have a fairly short professional life, and will need guidance to rejoin other academic or work segments.
Luckily, this scenario is like a boomerang: all the legal, social and fiscal achievements of the king sport pave the way for the needs of eSports.Professionalization, for example: football has decades of readjusted regulations once and again.In Spain, soccer players have been professionals since 1926, although it was not until June 1971 when they entered the General Regime-and in 1976 when labor relations were defined.
A SYNERGY IN TWO ADDRESSES
At the end of the day, the values of sport, cooperation, fair play and diversity are analogous to those of eSports.And that real sports are involved in digital ones is not only for their own benefit: eSports also manage to position themselves.
A saga as veteran as the NHL of Electronic Arts could take eSports by the organization itself, according to talks between Gary Bruce Bettman and the Californian developer and publisher.Maybe hockey is not a major sport in Spain, but this series of games enjoys fantastic health outside our borders, especially in Canada and the United States.
More advanced would be the negotiations between the NBA and Take-Two Interactive, the prestigious developer based in Novato, California.Secondly, in 2018 the NBA 2K eLeague will arrive, with regular seasons and out of royal clubs, forming sets of five players, although it is not yet decided whether the current 30 franchises will operate or each team will work independently.
The NBA has been keeping an eye on the eSports for some time.Not surprisingly, stars like Shaquille O'Neal or Magic Johnson have participation in eSports clubs and organizations.The 76ers in Philadelphia already bought the Team Dignitas club a year ago , like the young Swede Jonas Jerebko, forward of the Boston Celtics, became the owner of the Renegades club.
That eSports take advantage of the channels created by traditional clubs can only be beneficial: all the infrastructure created by these can be exploited.In fact, teams that already incorporate their own extension into eSports, just need to create an annex within their web pages and social networks to broadcast their players' matches.Football stadiums can become makeshift pavilions where large screens replace the playing field.And the basic rules of two-lap soccer-days, 3 points for the winning team, ascent and descent lines, applied to electronic sports.
WHEN THE REAL AND VIRTUAL IS DIFFUSED
Without entering into the analysis of what we call "simulator", there are few times where fictitious and real player cross their paths.
Such is the case of the GT Academy, the television program conducted by Nissan in which PlayStation players could measure their forces with real vehicles on real circuits.In fact, their popularity has grown so much that, in the face of the launch of GT Sport, riders from more than a dozen countries participate, from Algeria to Thailand.
With football is not less: not only digital games are played in, for example the Volkswagen Arena, but FIFA players join the training of their admired stars, there is the possibility of competing and promoting in real football.A very positive initiative for the morale of the players, where they can not only aspire to a pixelated Champions League.
THE PRICE OF FAME
On the other hand, our football is not so popular outside Europe-a case similar to rugby or ice hockey-it is here that the "brands" must look beyond their horizons.Valencia, for example, has Hearthstone and Rocket League on the scene, with their respective roster.Manchester United fought against Fnatic for taking over a team for Overwatch, the popular Valve shooter.
It's about, after all, believing in eSports as a reality, a horizontal commitment where clubs instruct and instill values, where thousands of young people want to be part of.Just look at the Orange Super League hearings to know that we are no longer talking only about a kid's favorite game, but about a reality that occupies the front page of the newspapers.And we are just beginning.
Images | Pexels, their respective brands (Take-Two, Electronic Arts and Polyphonic Digital)
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