FC Barcelona takes another step towards establishing their esports division by signing their first ever partnership deal in this sector with Gamers Hub Media Events Europe (GMHE).
An unprecedented deal with which Barça takes the lead in the eSports sector by signing a first of its kind partnership agreement. Within the framework of this alliance, GHME, which has extensive experience in organizing online and offline esports tournaments, will be able to organise and manage gaming competitions and leagues that will bring together players from across the world, along with the Club.
In addition, GHME will become the official training venue for Barça’s esports division, as the agreement foresees training and content creation for FC Barcelona esports players at the Barcelona International Gaming Center (BIG C), the high-performance stadium in the Catalan capital, with which GHME partnered in September 2021.
The agreement between FC Barcelona and GHME comes soon after Barça joined the League of Legends (LOL) championship, the real-time strategy action game currently with the highest number of followers and audiences worldwide. Last December, FC Barcelona presented the roster that will start competing from January 2022 in the Superliga LOL, the highest-level tournament of this esports competition in Spain, organised by the Professional Video Games League (LVP, Grupo Mediapro).
Barça’s esports division
The commitment to developing Barça’s new esports division is part of the club’s digital strategy. It is motivated by the same on-field desire of FC Barcelona, to become a role model in the digital sports sector worldwide in the next few years, building a leading division to help connect the Club and its philosophy to new audiences, particularly among emerging markets for football fandom, and to take the Barça brand to countries such as the United States of America and China.
While running the project, the Club will remain true to Barça’s values by participating in games in line with the brand and all that it represents, while also promoting gender equality, and a commitment to educate both fans and players.
As well as League of Legends, the Club currently competes in eFootball, the Konami football simulator and the first game Barça joined in 2018; Rocket League, the game combining cars and football and the Club’s second foray into the field in 2019; and Hearthstone, the strategic card game that Barça joined in 2020.
