Tuesday 15 August 2017 14:21, UK
Football clubs have given a huge boost to the competitive FIFA scene, and revolution will continue in London on Saturday (August 5) with the first FIFA Interactive Club World Cup, which UK viewers can watch LIVE on GINX TV.
The first of its kind tournament will be made up entirely of players who represent professional football clubs all gunning for one of the two remaining spots in the biggest FIFA tournament of the year - The FIWC which will also be held in London from August 15 to 18.
There will be 24 players present split into two divisions: Playstation 4 and Xbox One, with the winner of each securing a coveted FIWC spot. Each division will be split into two groups of six, with the top two of each advancing to the semi-finals. Both the semi-finals and the finals will be played over two legs.
Football clubs from 10 different countries will be present at the tournament including River Plate and New York City FC with 19 clubs overall. Most clubs will only have a representative in one of the divisions but Schalke, Ajax, Paris Saint-Germain, Roma and Wolfsburg will have representatives in both.
Ajax's Danny has already qualified for the FIWC but will still participate in the tournament in an attempt to become the first FICWC champion.
FIFA Esports Finally Growing Up?
The tournament demonstrates the phenomenal growth FIFA has had as an esport. Football clubs from across the globe are flocking into the esports scene with the hopes of making an impact and attracting a younger audience.
Wolfsburg were the innovators who started the movement back in 2015 when they signed FIFA players Benedikt Saltzer and Daniel 'DaniTastic' Fink. They were joined a year later by David Bytheway who was the first ever British FIFA player to be signed up to a team.
Bytheway spoke at the recent Esports Insider Forum event held in Fnatic's Bunkr store where representatives from multiple football clubs joined those from the esport industry to discuss the recent trend of football clubs joining the esports scene. He summed it perfectly when he said:
"Football is losing its younger audience and that's why Wolfsburg got into this."
It really is as simple as that. The prices of football tickets, especially in England, are soaring and consequently, a lot of today's youth are becoming more distant from professional football and are instead turning to virtual celebrities from the FIFA scene on Youtube and Twitch such as Spencer Owen and KSI.
It's crucial for football clubs to attract young fans, and the esports audience is primarily made-up of teenagers and young adults. Pair that with the expenses of sponsoring an esport player, which barely dents a football club's bank account, and you have a match made in heaven.
FIFA is an easy entry point for most football clubs because it's a world they already know and there is a huge crossover between the two audiences. Some clubs have embraced esports even further - PSG and Schalke, who will both feature at the FICWC, each have their own League of Legends team as well their FIFA players.
Getting into esports is the easy part for football clubs, the difficult part is winning. With that in mind, here are some of the top players to look out for at the FICWC.
The PSG player has been competing in FIFA tournaments since 2010 and the veteran will be hoping to add another FIWC trophy to his name.
On his time of asking Agge won the FIWC in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil back in 2014 when he defeated David Bytheway 3-1. On top of that, the Dane also sports victories at Dreamhack and ESWC.
He hasn't had as much success recently but his resume speaks for itself, you can never count him out.
The first ever FIFA player to sign a contract, Saltzer is another veteran who will be heavily favoured to succeed in this tournament.
The four-time German champion impressed at last year's FIWC in which he reached the last eight but he will be hoping to improve on that this year.
His Wolfsburg team-mate, Timo 'Timox' Siep, has already qualified for the FIWC. With Saltzer and Bytheway both competing at the FICWC, it could be a clean sweep for the German club.
