Following the Adelaide Crows purchase of a local League of Legends team, the AFL has announced that its commission has greenlit the league’s intention to establish its own esports league.
In a drop given to Fairfax Media, the AFL Commission has approved the code’s broader expansion into esports. The league won’t make too many splashes just yet, but is supposedly in the phase of researching the best way to expand into the Australian scene.
The report also notes that the Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL club has begun discussions to purchase a local team of their own:
Following on from the Crows’ eSports purchase, the Giants have begun preliminary talks with a number of eSports teams, one of them based in western Sydney, about buying their organisations. The Giants believe, that like their netball team and AFLW team, having a Giants branded eSports team can introduce GWS to new and bigger fan markets.
One of the teams directly named was Chiefs Esports Club. I’ve contacted them asking to confirm whether GWS Giants, or any other AFL club had reached out with view to buying out the team. The team hadn’t gotten back to me with a statement by the time of writing, but if I hear back I’ll let you know.
Still, it’s interesting to see just how rapidly the broader Australian industry is starting to jump into esports. The AFL sees esports as a way to attract younger audiences that aren’t watching TV, which makes you wonder if AFL games will become viewable on Twitch someday soon. It also makes you wonder whether other codes, like the A-League and NRL, will follow suit.
Disclaimer: Kotaku Australia’s parent company, Allure Media, is owned by Fairfax Media.
Comments
6 responses to “AFL Just Gave Itself A Greenlight To Run An Esports League”
I look forward to this, simply for the increased pressure on the Liberals and Turnbull for their shitty NBN.
I seriously doubt that this government gives a single shit about eSports, so I doubt they’ll be feeling any pressure whatsoever as a result of this.
“eSports” no.
But the AFL has a lot of money behind it. Why do you think they’re building all these new football stadiums?
How many are they building exactly?
I am an AFL tragic and can only think of the new stadium in Perth – where else are they being built?
Hm, guess I’m mistaken, with how long it’s been going on I guess I assumed there was more than one.
AFL on twitch would be pretty epic.