New York City FC Lands FIFA Player, Becomes First MLS Club To Sign Esports Representative

(Courtesy of NYCFC)

Major League Soccer club New York City FC became the first in the league to sign an esports player, it was announced Wednesday. NYCFC landed local FIFA gamer Christopher Holly, who will represent the soccer team in FIFA tournaments and championships worldwide.

Manchester City, the Premier League club that shares City Football Group as a parent company with NYCFC, signed a FIFA player last year in Kieran “Kez” Brown. Overseas soccer clubs in general have been ahead of the MLS in esports, with organizations like the French premier soccer league Ligue 1 launching Europe’s first professional esports soccer league around FIFA 17.

The signing came after NYCFC teamed up with Players’ Lounge to host an online FIFA 17 tournament that concluded with a live event at the team’s home field at Yankee Stadium last October. For NYCFC, the signing of Holly is part of the City Football Group’s continued push into esports, according to Diego Gigliani, Senior Vice President of Media and Innovation at City Football Marketing.

“At New York City FC, we are always looking for new ways to innovate and get closer to our fans. We are delighted to welcome Christopher Holly to the Club to represent NYCFC as the first ever eSports player in MLS,” Gigliani said in a statement.

“Christopher will play EA Sports FIFA at gaming tournaments around the world and challenge NYCFC fans pre-match as well as our players. We’ll also be creating content and live streaming on platforms like YouTube and Twitch.”

NYCFC’s Holly — who has lived in Haiti for most of his life but currently resides in Hempstead, N.Y. — called the opportunity to represent the New York club “a chance of a lifetime.”

“I never thought this would happen so when the club contacted me, I was shocked and now I’m really looking forward to it,” Holly said in a statement.

“I think NYCFC has some great players such as Pirlo and David Villa. They’re players I used to watch when I was younger so now that they’re in the MLS and in NY, it’s great.”

As part of the announcement, Holly faced off against NYCFC forward Ugo Okoli in FIFA 17. Less than three minutes into the game and Okoli saw himself down 1-0.

“It’s alright, just a slow start. Sheesh,” Okoli said.

The final score ended up being 4-0 in favor of Holly. After the match, Okoli told Holly and the other few observers in the room that “if he keeps going like this, he’ll be No. 1 in no time.”

In December, the 12-year FIFA player ranked first worldwide with a 197-3 record and is currently hoping to qualify for the FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) World Championship in Berlin later this spring.