Tranmere Rovers, the League 2 English football club, has today entered esports with the launch of a FIFA 19 to compete in the Virtual Pro Gaming (“VPG”) League One North.
Whereas we’ve recently seen the announcement of the ePremier League, no such structure exists for teams in the lower echelons of the English Football League. VPG’s approach also differs from traditional FIFA esports format. It uses Pro Clubs as the competitive game mode, so each game features 22 players, each controlling an individual player.
Tranmere will join a teams such as Scunthorpe United, Queens Park Rangers and Fleetwood Town on partnering with VPG.
Lee McAteer, Associate Director at Tranmere Rovers Football Club, said: “Following on from the success of our first ever eSports tournament at Prenton Park we identified eSports to be an important aspect of our off the pitch activities to help further fan engagement, the community and for our #SWA2 who love everything FIFA. We are delighted to now be part of VPG and look forward to what the future will bring.”
Arron Dellosa, Chief Executive Officer of VPG added: “It’s fantastic to see Tranmere Rovers setting up an eSports team with Virtual Pro Gaming. As the 11v11 eSports side of FIFA grows, it’s great for fans to take part and trial to make it in to the official eSports squad. Football is a team game, and this is why the 11v11 eSports is becoming a huge market, as it allows not just one player but 11 players to play in the team at the same time.
“It will be a great step for Tranmere Rovers to enter in to eSports as fan interaction is very important. John Warrington who will be managing the Tranmere Rovers eSports team is a huge fan of the Club and is very motivated to make the eSports team a success.”
Players who wish to get involved with the Tranmere Rovers esports team can email [email protected].
Esports Insider says: We’re still not really sold on 11 versus 11 FIFA but we still openly encourage participation in the wonderful world of esports. It’s been going fabulously at Prenton Park this season. So get involved, dust off your virtual boots and maybe you can be the esports equivalent of James Norwood.