Norway’s governing body of soccer has created its own national esports team to field teams for FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer.
The Football Association of Norway (known locally as the NFF) joins European counterparts France and Belgium in launching a federation-backed unit. The Norwegian esports team has six players who compete in a dedicated esports arena at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.
The federation also hosted a 350-person FIFA tournament prior to the country’s UEFA Nations League match against Slovenia in October. The Norwegian esports tournament was available via TV2 Sumo streaming, with as many as 15,000 concurrent viewers and a total of 50,000. Of the audience, 90 percent were under 40 years old and 60 percent were between the ages of 10 and 29.
The NFF used the tournament for scouting purposes and selected three players for its esports team. The federation hosted the event to drive attention to the Nations League match, with 250 esports attendees buying tickets for the soccer match as well.
“There is a lot of skillful FIFA-players in Norway, and there is definitely a connection between FIFA gamers and ‘real’ football,” Norwegian FA’s esports manager Mats Theie Bretvik said in a statement. “We want Norway to be a leading sports Federation when it comes to esport. Our goal is to connect gamers with football, and to bring our values about a healthy lifestyle and Fair Play into the gaming environment. Finally, we want to win a major esport tournaments at the highest level against other national Federations.”
SportTechie Takeaway
This trend of national federations sponsoring esports teams is a logical next step given how proliferate esports has become within pro clubs. National soccer teams play less regularly than league teams, so using esports as a way of sustaining interest and generating awareness of events is a shrewd idea.