AuthorJeffEyesRimmer We wrote an article about the E-League back before it kicked off in February 2018 (here). In that article we indicated that we thought that it would only be a matter of time before the computer game form of the game became mainstream and we asked a key question: Would the E-League be a success? Well was it a success? The resounding answer to that question was yes! Many a purist will scoff at the idea that a computer game version of the beautiful game could ever compete with the real thing. But put simply, if you believe that, then you are in the minority. The E-League for its inaugural season was basically the A-League but played on the computer game series FIFA. Each team had two players each, played on the two largest consoles, Playstation and Xbox. They played nine rounds through February and culminating in the finale in April. The E-League's opening night attracted 138,000 viewers on streaming network, Twitch, as well as Fox Sports' website. That was more than any A-League game, with the average viewers for the real thing in the region of 119,000 viewers. The Football Federation Australia (FFA) has and continues to make many mistakes around the game here in Australia but they have found a winner in this E-League idea. The E-League has proved so popular that is has attracted a larger social media following than any other streamed event covered by the FFA. That even includes the unveiling of Socceroos' new head coach, Bert van Marwijk. Madness! The eventual final for the E-League, a final that player Samer "Samer96_" Elbadar for Sydney FC won, attracted over 2million viewers! That’s far more than the A-league final, which attracted an average of 367,000 viewers with a peak of 553,000 at one stage. While that A-League final was up 10% in viewers the E-League destroyed it overall. To put this into perspective of how successful the E-League was with viewers, the final drew in more viewers than the NHL Ice hockey playoffs. Not a bad showing for the first attempt.
In all honesty this could be a major cash cow for Fox Sports and the FFA should be quick to lock the idea down or potentially loose out. There is clearly a market for the E-League to continue and as with anything plenty of money to be made here. The idea has already garnered the attention of others, with the E-League serving as qualification for the FIFA eWorld Cup (yes there is one) and its even been identified to potentially enter the 2024 Olympics in Paris (that would be crazy). This is not a brand new idea; teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Wolfsburg and PSG all have their own E-Sports players. Computer games have generally stopped being shunned by wider society; it is the second highest grossing industry (behind music) in the world after all, with the average age of gamers being in their 30s. It is no longer a ‘nerd pursuit’, both men and women play games (about even actually) and it is seen as another entertainment platform. Therefore I think it is only a matter of time before we see proper Champions League E-Sports competition. In all honesty it surprises me that it has not already been done, it would make a very lucrative market for UEFA and FIFA and we all know how much they love money. One thing for sure is that this not going away, E-Sports in the mainstream is here to stay. |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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