FC Barcelona expands into Rocket League
Spanish football club FC Barcelona has expanded its presence in esports by signing a Rocket League roster.
The newly-signed team will debut in the European division of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) on April 7th.
Signing the roster that previously competed under the guise of ‘Savage!’, the club will be represented by Adrián “Bymateos” Mateos, David “Deevo” William, Daniel “Bluey” Brian, and Yanis “Alpha54” Champenois.
Robert “Roken” Kendall, Coach of FC Barcelona‘s Rocket League team discussed the signing: “Being part of FC Barcelona is the greatest award that any athlete can achieve, so I am deeply honoured to lead this team. The fact that FC Barcelona joins the Rocket League is a success for both the club and the community.”
FC Barcelona currently competes in eFootball.Pro, a Pro Evolution Soccer league devised by developer KONAMI and Gerard Piqué, who currently plays for the Spanish side. Other clubs that take part in the competition are Schalke 04, AS Monaco, Celtic FC, FC Nantes, and Boavista FC.
The only other football club that is fielding a roster in the top flight of competition for the vehicular football game is Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Season 7 of RLCS marks the start of a partnership between Psyonix and ELEAGUE, with a total prize pot of over $1 million (£764,700).
Esports Insider says: A lot of football clubs have entered esports the ‘safe’ way through FIFA and PES, but Rocket League has been staring them in the face this entire time! It’s still effectively a football game so FC Barcelona will feel relatively at home, but this is a sign that it does indeed have ambitions beyond straight-up football titles – which is, of course, great!
