Tencent eSports held a press conference on June 16 in Shanghai to announce the kick-off of the first ever eSports football league in China, the Chinese eSports Football League.  This league will be based on EA Sports’s massively popular free-to-play multiplayer online football game FIFA Online 3 Star League and will see 10 Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs including Shanghai SIPG, Jiangsu Suning, Guangzhou R&F, Shandong Luneng Taishan, Henan Jianye, Yanbian Fude, Changchun Yatai, Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng, Tianjin Quanjian and Tianjin Teda compete for the overall title.

The eSports team roster for each of the 10 CSL’s clubs will consist of star players from their respective clubs, professional eSports players and from fans of each team. This new ground-breaking way to build a team will connect both on-field reality and the eSports platform plus the Chinese eSports Football League’s players and club fans.  

Further to this announcement, the FIFA Online 3 Star League, a professional league authorized by FIFA Online 3, will also see more famous overseas football teams eligible to compete. Regarding the commercial operations, Tencent Interactive Entertainment, the entertainments arm of Tencent, will see the Chinese eSports Football League become more open to attract investment as well as making the media distribution rights of this new innovative league available to tenders. 

Source: Sina 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick