The Danish Superliga clubs, and the three relegated clubs from last season, presented this morning the brand new “eSuperliga”, where FIFA players from the 16 participating clubs compete for a total prize pool of 350.000 kr. FC Helsingør is also taking part in the eSuperliga, as we, as a Superliga club last season, have been involved in shaping the new league.
The league is presented as a collaboration between Divisionsforeningen, Discovery Networks, which streams the tournament on their digital platform DPlay, as well as broadcasting selected matches on Canal 9, and Swedish Dreamhack, which is one of the world’s largest producers of eSports tournaments.
The tournament kicks off already from 5 November and seven weeks ahead, during which a total of 120 matches will be played. And going forward there will be two seven-week tournaments per calendar year.
For each match, the teams line up with two players. The matches are then played both away and at home, and the winner is the team with the best goal difference over both matches. The away goals rule is used.
At the same time, the league becomes part of the EA Global Series, so the players can earn points in the overall standings, which can provide qualification for the world championship, and the league also features big names in FIFA circles such as August ”Agge” Rosenmeyer, who represents FCK’s eSports team, North, and Lasse Bækkelund, who will represent OB.
FC Helsingør’s first eSports player is Wali Kazmi, one of Denmark’s best FIFA players, and before the season starts he will be joined by at least one more player. They are coached by Christian Fischer, who, besides being a youth goalkeeper coach at FCH, is also a passionate eGamer.
Wali Kazmi, or “Kaz” as his gamertag sounds, had no doubts when FCH reached out:
FCH believed in the project with the new league, and that also meant that I believed in the project. It is a really good opportunity for me to develop as a FIFA player, and it was an arrangement that made very good sense for both parties. The goal is clearly for FCH to compete for a top-eight place, and to move up and play against the big boys in the class, but now we’ll see. It also depends a little on who my partner will be. But top eight is the goal.
For director Janus Kyhl there was no doubt that FC Helsingør should jump on the train now:
Esports is one of the fastest-growing sports worldwide, something we in the industry have been aware of for a long time. When this fantastic initiative came onto the scene, it made really good sense for us to join now that the opportunity presented itself. It gives us both the chance to give our fans a different way to follow us, as well as to get FC Helsingør onto some platforms and put Helsingør on the map in places where we normally would not appear.
We know that many of our fans play FIFA and follow e-sports, so it was a no-brainer for us. Especially since our new main sponsor Freetrailer also backed the project enthusiastically. Without sponsorship from them, we would not have been able to join from the start, so they deserve a warm thought. We are also in dialogue with additional sponsors about support for the team, and we are very excited to be able to take part right from the beginning in a groundbreaking project for Danish football.
FC Helsingør’s eSports FIFA team can be followed on their very own Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/FCHeSport/
