German Soccer Teams to get into esports

To keep in theme with US sports stars getting into esports, eight well-known German soccer teams are interested in esports, according to WirtschaftsWoche. Bayern Munich are the leaders of the movement with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, FC Ingolstadt, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Cologne and Hertha BCS following in their steps. Bayern Munich’s digital director Stefan Mennerich said that the team is currently “analyzing the esports sector very closely at the moment,” with the Head of Digital Development at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Andreas Cuppers, saying something very similar. Borussia Dortmund told news site Split Push that soccer teams investing serious money in esports games that aren’t FIFA is a very common thing. He stated: “The most popular and known esports titles are not titles related to football, handball or table tennis—take as an example League of Legends. It would be tough to set a natural connection between these games and the existent departments of our club.” No official confirmation has yet been made by any of the clubs involved in the rumor. It wouldn’t be surprising for them to deny them, however, as FC Schalke lost its LCS lineup when the team was relegated after the 2016 Summer split.

What are your thoughts on German soccer clubs looking into esports? Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us @GAMURScom.