Over the last few years, the eSports industry has exploded in popularity with eSports competitions now being some of the most-watched events on the internet. Gamers representing Arsenal and the team’s real-life football players take part in these competitions, and some games are even officially backed by the real football clubs, so they’re well worth watching. But where do you start, and how do you watch these events? Find out here.
What Is eSports?
eSports are electronic sports competitions via video games in which real-life players compete against each other, solo or as teams. Most eSports competitions focus on fighting or shooting games like Overwatch, Super Smash Bros, League Of Legends, and more. However, several competitions focus on actual sports like football and basketball.
eSports has become so big now that the International Olympic Committee has held discussions on including the sport in future Olympic events. However, there may be trouble in implementing eSports into Olympic competitions as some countries have strict anti-gambling laws, and it has a close relationship with gambling as hundreds of people enjoy betting on the outcome of games, just like with physical sports. Still, many people enjoy just watching the events and supporting their favourite teams.
eSports Competitions With Arsenal Teams
There are several eSports football competitions that players representing Arsenal take part in. Arguably, two of the biggest eSports competitions in football are the ePremier League and the eFootball.Pro League, both of which allow players to compete for their club.
The ePremier League consists of 20 football teams from the most recent Premier League season. These teams each have two players for the PlayStation and Xbox versions of the latest FIFA game that are selected by Club Playoffs in the United Kingdom. These players are not officially backed by the real clubs. These teams then compete against each other in a series of games to win the top prize pool – £40,000 for the 2020-21 ePremier League.
Things are a little more serious with the eFootball.Pro League as players tend to officially represent their football club in the competition. In the eFootball.Pro League, ten teams play two matches against each other in Pro Evolution Soccer over the course of several months.
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The points won by each team are accrued into a league table, and the top two teams automatically enter the semi-finals. The four teams below them fight for a position in the quarter and semi-finals, and the competition culminates in a single final match between the top two teams.
As mentioned, the eFootball.Pro League is much more serious than the ePremier League as players officially represent their football club. In fact, Arsenal in December 2020 partnered with the eSports Gaming League (EGL) to manage their eFootball.Pro League, with EGL taking on the responsibilities of scouting, interviewing and recruiting players for the eSports team. It’s pretty serious stuff.
How To Watch
Since eSports competitions are so famous now, there are several ways to watch the above competitions with Arsenal and any others. Streaming platform Twitch is one of the best ways of watching these competitions as they regularly stream the events. Video sharing platform YouTube also streams these events.
US sports channel ESPN has occasionally hosted and aired some events, and in the UK, channels like Sky Sports have streamed events. It’s also worth checking out the social media channels of the video games involved in the event as they may be streaming too.
What’s more, it’s also worth pointing out that if you enjoy playing FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer and are skilled at it, it’s worth taking a look at how you can enter into the competitions to represent Arsenal. Most events have relatively easy sign-ups as long as you’re skilled, and by entering you can potentially help Arsenal win.
