Eredivisie launches official eSports competition for FIFA gamers: the E-Divisie

AMSTERDAM, January 18th 2017 – Eredivisie (the Dutch premier league) is launching a completely new competition for Eredivisie clubs, in addition to the Dutch football competition: the E-Divisie. In the E-Divisie eSports players from the 18 Eredivisie clubs will virtually compete for the championship in FIFA 17 Ultimate Team. The E-Divisie, one of the first official eSports competitions for FIFA gamers worldwide, starts on 6 February. Fans and enthusiasts can follow the games of their favourite club or gamer via Twitch, YouTube and FOX Sports Netherlands.

“In the Eredivisie we have been working to set up an official eSports competition in the Netherlands for some time”, reveals Alex Tielbeke, director of Eredivisie CV. “We are thrilled that we can now organise it together with EA SPORTS and Endemol. We see the E-Divisie as an extension to the existing range of football we offer, in which we can focus even more on young people. For the clubs it is a fantastic platform for increasing the fans’ involvement and jointly generating new content. Moreover, in time the E-Divisie will create an even greater experience of Eredivisie football in a stadium.”The E-Divisie is an initiative of Eredivisie CV and is being launched in association with the 18 Eredivisie clubs, EA SPORTS™ and Endemol Shine Nederland. The E-Divisie is a unique platform for the Eredivisie and Eredivisie clubs to reach youngsters and increase the involvement of existing fans in their club.

What’s globally unique about the structure of the E-Divisie is that all 18 eSports players are officially part of the Eredivisie clubs. At the beginning of the football season the Eredivisie clubs launched a search for an eSports player, who will represent their club in the E-Divisie. They will have the first chance to prove themselves in just over three weeks: the official kick-off of the E-Divisie takes place on Monday 6 February.

European championships

Seventeen rounds of games will decide the club and gamer that become the first national champion of the E-Divisie. The FIFA 17 Ultimate Team champion not only wins the coveted championship trophy, but will also be put forward on behalf of the E-Divisie to compete in the EA SPORTS FIFA 17 Ultimate Team™ Championship Series. There the national champion will compete at the European level with, for example, the best FIFA 17 Ultimate Team French players and from other countries. If successful, the E-Divisie champion will progress to the world championships, where he or she can measure him or herself against the best FIFA 17 Ultimate Team gamers in the world.

EA Sports

Brent Koning, FIFA Competitive Gaming Commissioner at Electronic Arts: “Our league partners are a massive part of our community, and a valued part of the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series. We look forward to seeing the E-Divisie players compete, and hopefully will be meeting one of their best at the FIFA Interactive World Cup.”

Unique opportunity

Producing the E-Divisie offers Endemol Shine Nederland, producer of, for example, FOX Sports Eredivisie, a unique opportunity. Jurian van der Meer, commercial director of Endemol Shine Nederland: “Producing content for different platforms is perfectly in line with our current strategy and we have built up the necessary expertise in the field of sports as well as online gaming. It all comes together in this collaboration and we are also looking forward to making the E-Divisie a huge success.”

Official launch on 1 February

The official launch of the E-Divisie will be held on Wednesday 1 February 2017. This is when the announcement will be made about the names of the gamers that will participate in the E-Divisie, when the games will be played and on which channels they will be broadcast. There will also be news about how the E-Divisie will be broadcasted and it will be revealed how gaming and football fans can also take part in the E-Divisie Until then everyone can follow the developments on www.e-divisie.nl