Another professional athlete is investing into esports—this time it’s a former Premier League soccer champion.
Leicester City defender Christian Fuchs is creating his own esports organization, which will make him the first active Premier League player to do so, according to the Daily Mail. The organization plans to sign FIFA players initially and eventually expand into other esports titles—though no specific titles were discussed in the story.
While Fuchs may be the first player in the Premier League to expand into esports, he joins many other current and former professional athletes that have jumped into the competitive gaming world.
Most notably, former NBA player Rick Fox created Echo Fox in 2015. In just the three years since its creation, Echo Fox is one of the most popular and recognizable teams in the world. The team even secured a coveted permanent partner slot in the North American LCS this past year.
Several soccer clubs in the Premier League and around the world have also invested into esports. Manchester City and West Ham United both are already involved in FIFA while French club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. has been involved in FIFA, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Rocket League.
German club FC Schalke 04 is also heavily invested in esports, and is currently competing in the European LCS.
Fuchs played for Schalke from 2011 to 2015, making 99 appearances for the club in that time. After playing in Germany with Schalke, Fuchs signed with Leicester City. In his first year with the team, LCFC won the Premier League, completing one of the most improbable championship runs in sports history.
While there will likely be nothing that will ever match the feeling Fuchs had when his team won the Premier League, seeing his organization on top of the esports world has to be a major goal for him. Fuchs will have a tough road to achieve that, but the previous pro athletes that have invested in esports have shown that it’s possible.
