The Essendon Football Club last night announced its acquisition of Esports team Abyss.
Essendon has acquired Abyss in partnership with Executive Sports and Entertainment (ESE) and will be moving the team to Melbourne. Abyss — shortly to be “integrated as a division of the Essendon Football Club, with a new name, brand and logo to be established” — will compete in the League of Legends’ Oceanic Pro and Oceanic Challenger Leagues next year.
“eSports is the fastest growing sports category in the world and is quickly changing the entertainment and sports landscape,” Essendon Chief Marketing Officer Justin Rodski. “The international audience is close to 300 million people, the majority are aged 14-34 years, providing a unique platform to engage and reach a younger demographic of fans.”
“It is great to have another AFL Club come on board to support an OPL team,” added Daniel Ringland, Head of Esports at Riot Games Oceania. “Next year is looking to be our most competitive year yet and it is going to be amazing to see AFC and Essendon go head to head in the OPL, just like they do on the footy field.”
The AFL’s Adelaide Crows purchased the Legacy Esports team back in May 2017.
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