Gareth Bale now has his own esports organisation, welcome to 2020. Co-owned with 38 Entertainment Group and Larry Cohen, Ellevens Esports will inevitably bring further interest to the sector with Bale’s global status as a footballer. 

Ellevens Esports will make their competitive debut at the Fifa eClub World Cup later this week, but Bale has expressed an intention to expand to other esports such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League and Fortnite in the future. The Fifa eClub World Cup will see teams compete for their share of an $100,000 prize pool, and crucial Global Series points. 

For a sector growing as quickly as esports, the launch of Ellevens Esports is another exciting development. The growing list of conventional sports stars associated with teams in varying capacities is an endorsement of the growing allure of esports to conventional sports fans and gamers alike. As the esports sector continues to grow, we can expect the crossovers with conventional sports to continue and expand. For example, the NBA 2K league was launched in 2017, FC Schalke 04’s League of Legends team has competed since 2016 and Fnatic in Fifa since 2017. What remains to be seen is how the size of the two sectors will compare in the next decade. With its current growth rate it seems likely that esports is going to do more to challenge the conventional sector than anyone might have anticipated even 5years ago. There are already signs that conventional sports are embracing a more comprehensive partnership with esports organisations, which opens up some tremendously exciting possibilities.