US Soccer Strikes Deal with Esports Engine

The future of esports and traditional sports seems tightly intertwined, and we got another confirmation when US Soccer announced a deal with Esports Engine for the eNational Team Closed Finals that start on April 9.

The esports company will be the production provider of the occasion that will determine the US national team for the FIFAe Nations Cup Online Qualifier.

The event will take place later this spring and leads to the main event of the tournament.

US Soccer expressed interest in esports for the first time back in 2019 when the first national team for the FIFA eNations Cup was assembled.

The federation has been trying to improve the process and attract a wider pool of players. The goal should be easier to achieve with Esports Engine on board.

The company has plenty of experience when it comes to organizing big events in the field of online gaming.

Both sides hope that the collaboration would engage more fans in the future and the eNational Team Closed Finals are only the beginning.

You can watch the event live for free via the US Soccer official Twitch channel.

Up until several years ago, mentioning esports and traditional sports in the same sentence would’ve sounded weird. Now with deals like this one suggests that the two might embrace each other more often in the future.

The core concepts behind both are similar, even if there are obvious differences as well.

The metronomic growth of esports has attracted millions of fans and the prize pools of the biggest tournaments are now larger than many traditional sports have to offer.

A collaboration between the two industries makes a lot of sense for the near future, especially for events such as the Olympics.

The idea of adding esports has been around since 2017 and we know that esports will be part of the Tokyo Summer Olympics with demonstration events. It’s basically a beta test that should serve as a rehearsal.

If the International Olympic Committee is satisfied with the interest shown by the general audience, it makes sense to introduce esports to the schedule officially as soon as 2028.

If the esports events drive enough revenue, there’s no reason to wait.

The big question here is what would happen if traditional sports try to enter the esports world. Can the likes of IOC get an agreement with companies like ESL and Riot that have been the driving force behind most major events in esports? 

Would there be a war for who’s getting the lion’s share of the money?

It might be in the early days, but the process of merging esports with traditional sports has started already.

It’s only a matter of time before we see major events that include both and it’s curious to see where this goes in the near future.

The biggest problem right now is a potential power struggle between the governing bodies in traditional sports and the top esports organizers. If they can find a way to join forces, the shared path might come sooner than we think.