The list of soccer clubs with competitive gamers on their payrolls is "expected to grow significantly over the next two or three years ... with some predicting that it would be feasible for all of Europe’s elite teams to one day have a gamer" involved in tournaments and fan engagement on their behalf, according to Jack Williams of the N.Y. TIMES. Electronic Arts Chief Competition Officer Peter Moore said, "If you are a global football club and you are concerned about missing a generation to people playing, say, League of Legends in their bedroom, go and get them." The willingness of soccer clubs to "increase their ties with electronic games like FIFA comes as no surprise." City Football Group Senior VP/Media & Innovation Diego Gigliani, whose firms owns NYC FC and EPL club Manchester City, said it is “the most natural way to dip our toes into e-sports without going into the mainstream games." Gigliani: "We see it as an extension of what we do with EA already." But while some early-adopting clubs have "used an organic connection to FIFA as an entry point into the e-sports market -- or simply as a way to engage more millennials online -- others have decided to sign players with the bigger, competitive picture in mind." Bundesliga club FC Schalke Head of E-Sports Tim Reichert said, "We started with League of Legends, and, as the second step, we chose FIFA." Reichert is an "advocate for variety because FIFA -- despite being the most popular sports title -- represents only a small percentage of the revenue and audiences generated by other games in the broader e-sports market" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/12).
