Brought to
you by the
Premier League club would join likes of Barcelona, Villarreal and Beşiktaş on gaming title.
Getty Images
- Rocket League “really interesting opportunity” for Wolves
- Premier League club reach 500k esports followers in China, with 1m overall target set
- Team “not quite ready” to enter titles such as LoL, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike
Top-flight English soccer side Wolverhampton Wanderers are weighing up a move into Rocket League esports competitions, the club’s general manager of marketing and commercial growth has told SportsPro.
Russell Jones said Wolves are “looking at Rocket League as a really interesting opportunity” when asked if the Premier League club are looking to expand their esports efforts into additional titles, having already competed in the likes of FIFA, Fortnite, Crazyracing KartRider and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
If Wolves do take part in Rocket League tournaments, they will join notable clubs including Spanish soccer champions Barcelona, who took over the unsigned Savage! roster in April 2019 before competing in the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS). La Liga rivals Espanyol also followed Barca by launching a Rocket League esports team last year, competing in the ESL Masters alongside Villarreal and Getafe, two other Spanish clubs, and Turkey’s Beşiktaş.
Jones was also asked by SportsPro if Wolves are weighing up an entry into more top non-sports simulation gaming titles, such as League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike, but he said the club would remain patient in those cases due to the significant investment required.
“Buying into a franchise, particularly for Overwatch and League of Legends, is incredibly expensive,” Jones said.
“From the research that we’ve done, we’re probably not quite ready to invest into those franchises. So, we’ll look to invest into games where we feel we can be sustainable and continue to tell our brand stories.”
Wolves’ potential Rocket League move would continue the club’s significant esports efforts. Since March, they have launched their own gaming tournament portal, hosted Fortnite tournaments, partnered with the Gulf Racing team for the virtual 24 hours of Le Mans, and joined the Identity V League.
Jones said it has helped Wolves reach half a million esports followers in China across the club’s official Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, Douyu, Weibo, WeChat and TikTok accounts. The country has been identified as a clear growth market for Wolves, who are owned by Chinese investment group Fosun International.
“Right now, our target is a million followers across our entire esports programme, that’s our focus,” Jones continued.
“We work with a number of different partners both here and in China, and the idea of that now is for us to have a sustainable programme and provide other opportunities to young people to develop the esports programme.”
