Danish Superliga launches FIFA 19 esports league

EA Sports have continued the expansion of FIFA 19 esports across Europe’s top leagues with Denmark’s premier division, the Superliga, the latest to join.

The Superliga, the top tier of Danish football, will now have its own esports counterpart in the eSuperliga starting from early November – which will be part of a national FIFA 19 league where players represent the top football clubs of the country.

The clubs will compete for the ultimate $50,000 (£38k) prize pool and will be observed as an Official League Qualifier for the FIFA eWorld Cup, an annual competition held by FIFA and EA Sports which will award the winning team $250,000 (£189k).

The league is a joint venture between media company Discovery Networks Denmark and esports organisers DreamHack, with Discovery Networks broadcasting the games both online and on TV.

Every eSuperliga club will consist of a minimum of two FIFA players and a manager, with one player required to sign a professional contract with their team. Games will be played weekly with the superior of eight teams from the regular season qualifying for the playoffs.

A number of Danish clubs have already begun participating in esports ventures, with FC Copenhagen’s esports team, North, already making their first move into FIFA.

North have already signalled their intent with the monumental signing of August "Agge" Rosenmeier. The Danish player is a former FIFA Interactive World Cup champion and has previously represented Paris Saint-Germain and Hashtag United. The FIFA veteran proved his worth earlier this year at the eWorld Cup, making it to the PlayStation 4 quarter-finals before being eliminated by the eventual runner-up PSV’s Stefano Pina.

Accompanying all 14 Superliga teams in the league are also the three clubs who were relegated last season, FC Helsingor, Lyngby BK and Silkeborg IF, as relegation playoffs occurred at the same time that the league was presented to the clubs.

The eSuperliga is part of a huge revamp in FIFA tournaments in which players will be able to participate in more global tournaments than ever before. Every live event, including the new Danish league, will earn players championship points to increase their ranking on a global leaderboard in their hopes of qualifying for next year’s eWorld Cup.

An increasing number of football clubs are becoming more heavily invested in esports with gaming already extremely popular in Denmark.