November 14 – Football’s tentative steps to ride the wave of the eSports boom are speeding up. Yesterday Konami announced it would be launching a world league for its PES game with Spanish firm eFootball.pro. Now City Football Group club, New York City Football Club, have signed the club’s second FIFA eSports player – Joseph ‘Joey’ Calabro.
Calabro will represent NYCFC in EA SPORTS FIFA tournaments and competitions around the world on the Xbox console. The club already have PS4 player Chris Holly playing in their colours – he signed on in April.
Like CFG-owned Manchester City in the Premier League, NYCFC were the first MLS club to sign a professional eSports player. The addition of Calabro to play in the Xbox division expands the club’s global reach through eSports.
Calabro was ranked third in the Americas on Xbox in October and recently competed in the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) Grand Final in London, advancing to the Quarterfinals of the competition.
NYCFC President, Jon Patricof, commented, “We went from being the first and only MLS team to have an eSports player to now expanding to have two players represent our Club on different platforms. We are always looking for ways to innovate and engage fans in new and different ways. The growing eSports market allows us to interact with current and potential fans in a way that’s meaningful to them where they are natively spending their time.
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