October 21 – The blurring of ‘sporting’ boundaries and rights ownership that eSports throw up is brought sharply into focus again today with the EA Sports-sanctioned FIFA 22 Challenge.
By Paul Nicholson
October 18 – With EA Sports review of its FIFA license increasingly looking like bringing an end to its FIFA branded game at the end of the current rights cycle, FIFA has issued a statement saying that it will be widening its own gaming and eSports portfolio.
September 30 – One international match calendar FIFA is having no trouble expanding is its esports programme. Electronic Arts have announced a further growth of its competition ecosystem for the launch of the FIFA 22 game next month.
July 30 – E-sports team Evil Geniuses have sold a minority stake to Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers and their Chinese ownersFosun. No value or percentage was given for the stake in Evil Geniuses.
July 1 – German football club Schalke 04 has completed the sale of its esports team, League of Legends European Championship licence, to Swiss organisation Team BDS for €26.5 million.
April 27 – A survey of eFootball activity within 35 European federations has found that 92% of FAs plan to field their own eNational teams in 2021 with 83% planning their own tournaments and leagues.
April 23 – The Premier League is is launching ePremier League in China this monthin partnership with it broadcast license holder Tencent Sports, Tencent Gaming and EA SPORTS.
April 16 – FIFA has announced total of 60 national teams will participate in the FIFAe Nations Series 2021 with the final to take place from August 20-22 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
March 22 – FIFA have caught the esports bug, and the revenue wave its FIFA21 video game has brought, and launched another new competition this weekend.
March 17 – The eSports football season is hotting up with UEFA’s eEuro 2021 qualifiers having started on Monday and the eMLS Cup finals in the US starting this weekend.
February 22 – Video gaming took a step into the broadcast mainstream in the UK at the weekend with the first broadcast by Britain’s public broadcaster, BBC, of the FIFA 21 Global Series European Regional Qualifiers.
February 4 – Electronic Arts (EA) has renewed is exclusive license with UEFA for its Champions League and Europa League video games, keeping both competitions on the FIFA platform.
January 21 – Football clubs’ engagement with eSports platforms has taken a deeper dive with 23 teams from around, including Manchester City, Juventus, Inter and AC Milan, partnering with Epic Games – the creator of video game Fortnite – to bring the first-ever official football kit inspired skins to the game.
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.