On Saturday, Helsinki, Finland-based professional hockey club, IFK Helsinki, announced the launch of its first eSports team. The Helsinki REDS will compete in Overwatch, a game published by Blizzard Entertainment.
According to a release, the team’s goal is to “become one of the leading and most popular brands in eSports.”
Get The Latest eSports Tech News In Your Inbox!
The team is composed of local talent and recently started its training in October. IFK Helsinki is believed to be one of the first, if not the first, Finland-based professional sports teams to venture into eSports.
Over the past few months, other professionals teams — both domestically and internationally — have either launched or purchased eSports teams. In late September, the Philadelphia 76ers became the first U.S. professional sports team to purchase eSports franchises while last month French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain dove head first into gaming with the creation of PSG eSports.