English football club Reading FC has partnered with gaming solutions company Rival to build an official gaming community for its fans, Royals Esports. Currently, the football team competes in the EFL Championship, equivalent to the second division of football in England.
As such, Rival will leverage Royals Esports with its enterprise platform solution that allows organizations to directly connect and engage players with an immersive experience. The Rival platform will provide the club with the ability to promote tournaments and offer prizes, adding more value to the Reading brand.
Reading FC fan gaming platform to be launched this week
Royals Esports will officially launch next Thursday, June 17, with its first FIFA 21 tournament, with two competitions running simultaneously on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
“As we celebrate our club’s 150th anniversary this season and celebrate our rich history, we are delighted to also look to the future and announce the launch of our gaming community on the Rival platform,” said Tim Kilpatrick, Head of Sales at Reading FC.
Kilpatrick noted: “We will be providing new content, experiences and activities that will strengthen the connection between e-sports and football with the gaming community,” said Tim Kilpatrick, Head of Sales at Reading FC.
Dan Parise, CMO at Rival, also spoke officially about the partnership with the English football team. “Rival is excited to partner with Reading to launch Royals Esports in such a landmark season to connect with the global gaming audience.”
Parise added: “We are looking forward to working with the club to innovate new revenue streams, as well as providing ways to integrate Reading’s sponsors into the platform.”
ESports betting boom
The partnership between the English club and the game company only demonstrates how much this market is growing. With the arrival of new eSports enthusiasts every day, bookmakers are paying much more attention to the sector and are committed to launching new betting options to meet this rapidly expanding demand.
