Football Esports: “More Structured Future Lies Ahead”

A more traditional sports structure is on the horizon for the world of esports, according to an adviser to the winning team of the FIFA eClub World Cup in London this month.

“At present there is still a clash of cultures between football and football esports,” said Daniel Luther, founder of the agency ESB Marketing Netzwerk, which works closely with tournament winner King Esports.

“Football has been around for over 100 years and is very structured, while esports is a new sport. But restrictions will definitely be coming in the future.”

King Esports, the tournament favourite, was the first team not from a football club to win the event, defeating the pair from Ligue 1 team Dijon, making a surprise appearance in the final.

In fact, the Dijon payers were on loan from Team Vitality, an esports organisation part owned by Dijon club President Olivier Decourt.

Vitality have teams across multiple games and have recently found surprising success in League of Legends.

Brian Savary, the Dijon esports manager, told iSportconnect that one of the great things about esports competition is that it enables Dijon to play the likes of Manchester City – when the clubs are unlikely to meet on the football pitch.

Watch the video to hear what they said.