Essendon’s venture into the world of eSports is just the tip of the iceberg according to Bombers chief marketing boss, Justin Rodski.
Yesterday, Essendon became just the second AFL club to announce the purchase of an eSports franchise, when they acquired Australian top tier outfit Abyss.
Rodksi told SEN Breakfast that Abyss will participate in the eight-team Ocean Pro League under the governing body Riot Games, playing the video game "League of Legends".
“Its effectively a fantasy battle game where five people play against five other people I a series of tournaments,” he said.
“The winner of the OPL gets the chance to go and compete on the world stage and this year the world championships were held in Shanghai in front of a sold-out stadium of 92,000 people.”
Rodksi says that Abyss’s players will have full access to the Bombers facilities and resources and that integrating them into the club was a big factor.
“We’ll bring our skills and experience and expertise in marketing and commercial as well.
“They be able to access our facilities and our dietician and our high-performance program to enable them to be like any other athlete competing in any other sports club or sports tournament in the world.
“They want to be the best they can be and we want to provide them with that opportunity.”
In May, the Crows were the first professional Australian sporting club to purchase eSports team Legacy, following in the footsteps of the New York Yankees, Philadelphia 76ers and French football powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain, who have similar arrangements in the US and Europe.
Rodksi said that eSports it is a new way to be able to tap into a younger fan base.
“The AFL is about to invest pretty seriously in eSports in Australia and Etihad Stadium is going to become the hub of eSports in Australia.”
“I know there is a number of clubs that have been looking at it since Adelaide was the first mover in the market and I’ve got no doubt that in 3-5 years that there will be more AFL team involved.”
To listen to Justin Rodksi's full chat about eSports, click the player below!