eFootball
The term «eFootball» derived from “electronic football”, refers to a distinct discipline within the broader spectrum of esports (electronic sports), aiming to replicate the mechanics and rules of traditional football competitions within the virtual realm of videogames.
One of the particularity of efootball is its intrinsic link with “football simulation games”. These videogames permit their users to function as soccer players in an immersive environment, recreating real-world elements such as stadiums, pitches, and the likenesses of actual football players, as well as the crests, jersey and insignias of teams and national squads.
In the recent years, the titles which have served as the main platforms for competitive efootball events have been the FIFA franchise developed by Electronic Arts (now named EA FC), which has successfully been commercialized for two decades, alongside its principal competition, Pro Evolution Soccer, developed by Konami.
These efootball events, organized all over the world, attract vast communities of fans, individual efootball players, teams, coaches, but also a variety of brands and sponsors eager to engage with this unique form of entertainment.
Streaming platforms such as Twitch play an important role in the success and dynamism of this rapidly growing sector, facilitating the live broadcast of competitions across various platforms and channels, where viewers and fans can engage with the teams and support them directly.
The international governing body of football (FIFA) itself, has recognised the potential of efootball to reach a generation of football fans less inclined toward traditional football viewing but more keen to play videogames. FIFA has therefore created new narratives around the electronic football by creating a brand, FIFAe, along with a dedicated website (FIFA.gg) and a range of competitions, inviting individual players, clubs and national federations (with the FIFAe to compete against each other.
In terms of intellectual property rights, since the organisation of efootball competitions is intrinsically linked to the videogame which rights are generally owned by the publisher of the game, the organisers of these competitions need to seek any and all necessary authorisations and licenses to utilise the football videogame in this context, and pay any required licenses fees.
The participants in efootball competitions must adhere to regulations governing their participation to eFootball competitions, including anti-doping protocols and sanctions for violation to such regulations, issues by efootball competitions organisers. These regulations must comply with applicable laws, including any antitrust and competition laws. [1]
The prize pool constitute in efootball the consideration received by the winners of an efootball competition.
With the rise of efootball competitions over the past years, the involvement of brands and sponsors has notably increased, opening new opportunities for professional players, efootball teams and streamers to serve as brands ambassadors, and for the brands to get some visibility during the competitions, on different communication channels.[2]
As the professionalisation of efootball continues to grow, the sudden termination of the historic collaboration between FIFA and Electronic Arts came as a surprise.[3] 2024 could be a pivotal moment for the efootball industry, with potential new actors to emerge and reshape the landscape of efootball.
With the launch of the Olympic eSports Series 2023, the global virtual and simulated sports competition created by the International Olympic Committee in collaboration with International Federations and game publishers,[4] it is highly likely that efootball will offer players and football fans new avenues to experience the excitement of football in a digital realm in the few next years.
[1] See for example, World Esports IESF, ‘eFootball Rulebook’ (15 January 2024), available at: <https://iesf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eFootball%E2%84%A2-Rulebook-National-Qualifier-2024.pdf> accessed 25 September 2024.
[2] B Mazza and G Russo, ‘The value of esports football. Towards new models of consumption and participatory experience in Italy’ (2023) 18(1) Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences 109. See also R Jones, ‘Manchester United extends Konami video game partnership’ (SIG, 22 August 2024) available at: <https://www.sportindustry.biz/news-categories/news/manchester-united-konami-efootball-video-game-partner/> accessed 25 September 2024.
[3] ‘FIFA and EA Sports end decades-long video game partnership’ (The New York Times, 10 May 2022) available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/sports/soccer/fifa-ea-sports.html> accessed 25 September 2024.
[4] See for example ‘IOC announces Olympic Esports Games to be hosted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ (International Olympic Committee, 12 July 2024) available at: <https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-announces-olympic-esports-games-to-be-hosted-in-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia> accessed 25 September 2024.
