Football giant FC Barcelona will soon enter the League of Legends scene, the organization confirmed today. The club has secured a slot in next year's Superliga season, the highest level of pro League in Spain organized by the Professional Video Games League. The decision represents the La Liga side's marked commitment to esports.
Heading into Summoners Rift, the Spanish club acquired the Superliga spot previously held by team S2V Esports. Barça snapped up the slot by beating out the bids from football rivals Sevilla FC and esports organization Case eSports.
By venturing into League of Legends, Barcelona is making quite the statement for developing its esports division, especially considering the rocky situation in the club's footballing side following the loss of legendary player Leo Messi and the org's dire financial standing. At the moment, the La Liga org has yet to announce who the players and coaching staff will be.
Barcelona's entry into League of Legends follows after the organization's previous forays in eFootball, Rocket League, and Hearthstone. According to the football club, the move embodies “the same on-field desire…to become a main player in the digital esports sector worldwide.” Ultimately, it envisions to connect Barça and its philosophy to new audiences across both football and esports fandoms.
Whether the move will bridge football and esports fans remains to be seen. However, it certainly isn't the first time that a well-known sports team has explored the esports sector. The Spanish side will hope that fielding a League of Legends team can help boost its digital brand. League, after all, remains one of the most popular video games to date.
Viewership numbers have soared promisingly high, even for a non-major region like the Superliga. At the end of the Summer 2021 season, the tournament hit a record-high five million viewers. Plus, 300,000 different viewers watched the grand final—a significant increase from just over 70,000 the year before.
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