(Courtesy of Adelaide Football Club)
Professional sports teams owning an esports group has made its way to Australia as the Adelaide Football Club acquired Sydney-based Legacy eSports, it was announced Wednesday. AFC is the country’s first mainstream professional sports team to enter the emerging space in such fashion.
According to Crows Chief Executive Officer Andrew Fagan, esports allows the club to reach a new segment of fans and further broaden the AFC brand.
“It is hugely popular with millennials and there are enhanced opportunities for current and new corporate partners to engage with younger, digital and social media savvy audiences,” Fagan said in a statement.
“In many ways, eSports represents the intersection of technology, media and entertainment, which are all a key part of our strategic focus. Across the globe there are sporting clubs, billionaire investors and athletes becoming involved in eSports with a view to growing their brand and reach, driving commercial outcomes and engaging with new fans. League of Legends eSports was the most obvious choice for our Club to get involved in, as it is one of the most developed eSports leagues in the region. We will bring our expertise in elite and professional sport to support the high performance development of the Legacy players who are driven to achieve success in their field.”
Legacy currently competes in the League of Legends Oceanic Pro League and participates across other titles such as Counter-Striker: Global Offensive, SMITE and Rocket League.
The Legacy acquisition follows the Australian Football League saying earlier this month that it wants to enter the esports industry and have member clubs either create teams themselves or sponsor ones. Additionally, there’s potential plans for the league to host an esports tournament later this year at Etihad Stadium, which is now owned by the AFL.
“eSports events sell out,” Darren Birch, the AFL’s growth, digital and audiences general manager told Fairfax Media two weeks ago. “They are amazing live events. There are more screens, more activities going on, more lights, more LED displays. Some of the tournaments I have seen show that eSports is more concert-like than sport-like, but that’s what appeals to that younger audience. All of these things make the experience bigger and bolder than your average sport.”
Adelaide Football Club joins a growing worldwide list of professional sports teams acquiring, investing in or strategically partnering with esports organizations. In the past year, teams in the U.S. like the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat have entered the esports arena while overseas soccer clubs in France, for example, have created their own team. A professional hockey team in Helsinki, Finland launched an esports team late last year as well.
Even with all of the interest in esports, though, there have been those clubs such as the San Francisco 49ers who have publicly stayed on the sidelines for now as it pertains to team ownership.
