WOLFSBURG, GERMANY: With Euro 2016 in full swing, many football fans will be taking to their computer consoles to play out their team’s fortunes in France.
But those among the world’s elite gamers are now even making a living from playing digital football online in what computer-game and football fans alike would regard as a dream job.
The gaming industry is booming and David Bytheway is a professional gamer signed up to represent Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg, the first German club to invest in eSports.
“We recognise eSports as important and we want to be among the leading Bundesliga clubs in this area,” explained Wolfsburg’s director of sport Klaus Allofs. “Our goal is to make the connection between real and digital football.”
Success on the pixelated pitch is being transformed into reallife signings.
England’s Sean Allen, who lost this year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup final in New York, was signed by Premier League side West Ham last month.
And Wolfsburg’s Bundesliga rivals Schalke 04 announced in May that they have signed a fivestrong team of gamers, complete with a coach and analyst, to represent them in eSports.
Bytheway is of the few Englishmen who have played in a World Cup final, albeit on the EA Sports’ online game FIFA.
{{/usCountry}}Bytheway is of the few Englishmen who have played in a World Cup final, albeit on the EA Sports’ online game FIFA.
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