December 18 – The 2021 eChampions League will start in February and culminate with the final to be played the day before the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul. Prize money has been set at €280,000.
December 8 – FIFA is reporting a record 480 teams entered into its FIFAe Club Series, a 150% increase on last season.
November 4 – With the world in various stages of lockdown and fans in most countries unable to attend matches in stadia, the opportunity of engaging with fans via esports has not been lost on clubs or leagues.
November 4 – Serie A’s AC Milan has entered the esports with a strategic partnership with Italian organisation QLASH to form a new team that will be called AC Milanm QLASH.
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.
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’.
September 29 – Germany’s DFL has renewed its 20-year partnership with EA Sports and its FIFA franchise for another ‘multi-year’ term.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.