These soccer clubs love esports

Esports is a unique way to attract a new audience. Many soccer clubs have also seen this and started their own esports teams. In this article you can read which soccer clubs in Europe are also performing well in esports. Due to the large amount of clubs with FIFA players, we have excluded this game for this piece.

Paris Saint-Germain

For over ten years, Paris Saint-Germain has had new owners in the form of Qatari investors. They have turned a mid-table team in France into a team that has won the title seven times in the last nine years and is also competing internationally for prizes. However, in addition to soccer titles, PSG is also investing heavily in esports.

PSG's best team is undoubtedly their Dota 2 line up. LGD was already a successful team in Dota 2 and reached the semi-finals of The International twice before partnering with PSG. But since the French soccer team has been involved, PSG.LGD has been a title contender every year. In 2018, the team finished second at The International, third a year later and second again last year. So a title is not yet in place, but that seems a matter of time.

In addition to Dota 2, it also has a strong League of Legends team that wins its own region (Hong Kong) by default and also performs nicely at the World Championship. Furthermore, it has line ups in Brawl Stars, Arena of Valor and of course FIFA. What makes PSG unique is that they also have a youth program called Paris Saint-Germain Esports Academy. In it, young people are helped with the start of their esports career.

Schalke 04

The story of Schalke 04 is one with a gigantic high and a gigantic low. The soccer organization's League of Legends team was founded in 2016, bought a spot in the LEC for around 10 million euros, but had to sell it last summer due to financial problems. Currently, the team is still active in the Prime League, the highest German league.

Schalke 04 Esports was best known for its „miracle run. In the summer split of 2020, after five weeks the team was on only one victory and ten defeats. However, it turned a switch and won as many as seven games in a row and finished 8-10. Because competitors often lost in the last weeks, Schalke 04 managed to win placement for the play offs from an impossible position. In this it eventually lost to MAD Lions.

A year later, the club sold their place in the league for about 30 million euros. This money was needed because the club was in need of money due to corona and relegation of the soccer team.

Besiktas FC

Maybe not the biggest club in Europe, but Besiktas Esports is doing nicely in League of Legends. With their entry in 2015, it is also the first major soccer club that got involved in esports outside of FIFA. Besiktas‘ League of Legends team is active in the TCL, the biggest moba league in Turkey.

In that league, teams from soccer teams Fenerbahce and Galatasaray also play. In addition to a League of Legends team, Besiktas Esports also has a PUBG Mobile and a Valorant team. It also used to have a women's team in CS:GO that included our countrywoman Petra ‚Petra‘ Stoker. That team was among the top in the world back then and won $50,000 during Dreamhack Valencia, among other things.

Valencia CF

While Spanish teams such as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are cautious, Valencia CF is still going at it full force. The Spanish soccer organization has teams and players in Arena of Valor, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Wild Rift and Rocket League, among others.

Valencia's most successful team is undoubtedly their Arena of Valor team. Created in 2020, it managed, among other things, to finish second and third in the Thai league, one of the strongest in the world. This achievement also earned them a ticket to the 2021 World Championships where they reached the quarter-finals.

KRC Genk

Time for some Belgian glory in the form of KRC Genk. Indeed, our southern neighbors from Genk are not only active in FIFA, but also have a League of Legends and CS:GO team. The former is currently active in the Elite Series, the highest stage for League of Legends in the Benelux. The first season of the Elite Series ended recently and was also won by KRC Genk.

Just like the League of Legends team, the CS:GO team of KRC Genk is also active in the Elite Series. In it, the team plays against soccer rival Club Brugge, among others. In the regular season, KRC Genk Esports played all matches with a draw. That was enough for the play-offs in which a duel against Sector One is scheduled.

FC Barcelona

In La Liga, FC Barcelona is in the title race with Real Madrid, but on the virtual stage it competes with the training teams of esports giants Fnatic and G2, among others. Indeed, Barca has a League of Legends team that is active in the Superliga, Spain's biggest league. In it, Barca Esports recently finished in third place after losing to Fnatic TQ, among others, in the playoffs.

Also, FC Barcelona had a very strong Rocket League team in their ranks in 2019. They managed to take the second spot in Europe in their first season and reached the quarterfinals at the World Championships. The Rocket League enclave was also active in 2020, but began to decline. Financial problems at the soccer club have caused Rocket League to be on the back burner in Catalonia at the moment.