Barcelona to enter League of Legends esports

FC Barcelona, one of the biggest soccer clubs on the planet, is joining League of Legends’ competitive scene, the Spanish club announced today.

Barça will be a part of the Superliga, the top League of Legends league in Spain, starting in January 2022. The tournament organized by the Professional Video Games League (LVP) is home to teams like Vodafone Giants, UCAM Esports Club, Movistar Riders, G2 Artic, and MAD Lions Madrid.

Barcelona will be the second big addition to the Superliga in 2022 after a team owned by Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos and Barça’s soccer captain Gerard Piqué acquired AstralisSB’s spot for 300,000 euros in September.

The Spanish club’s venture into League is the next step toward its commitment to esports, which started two years ago.

“The commitment to developing Barça’s new esports division forms part of the club’s digital strategy,” the announcement reads. “And is motivated by the same on-field desire of FC Barcelona – to become a main player in the digital esports sector worldwide in the next few years, building a leading division to help connect the Club and its philosophy to new audiences, particularly among emerging markets for football fandom, and to take the Barça brand to countries such as the United States of America or China.”

Barça has esports teams in eFootball, Rocket League, and Hearthstone. The Spanish club wants to keep expanding its esports project but will only participate in “non-violent” games.