Football Federation Australia introduced the E-League last summer following an int'l esports "boom" and the tournament "proved a raging success," according to Eamonn Tiernan of THE AGE. More than 2 million people tuned in to watch the final between Sydney FC gamer Samer Eldabar and Melbourne City's Josh Wood in April. Now, Canberra's A-League bid wants to "get in on the action" and it will host a tournament on Aug. 22 to "start searching for prospective players." Canberra bid leader Michael Caggiano said that he is preparing an E-League team in the capital on the presumption it will be one of two expansion clubs handed an A-League license on Oct. 31. The tournament will be called the Capital Cup and be played at Reload Bar in Civic. Caggiano said, "As a new club we need to be at the forefront of innovation, and esports is a booming industry." Reload Bar Owner Ravi Sharma said that the esports boom had "well and truly hit the ACT." Sharma: "The Canberra esports scene is exploding along with the national trend. We're getting so many inquiries for teams, events, players and courses" (THE AGE, 8/13).
