In an attempt to attract youth appeal, Football Sports Development (FSDL), in collaboration with South Asia's leading esports company NODWIN Gaming on Tuesday, announced the launch of eISL as the Indian Super League (ISL) became the country's first major sports league to venture into the arena of competitive gaming.
The ISL collaborated with EA SPORTSTM.
FSDL has been curating new concepts and platforms to explore the youthful and global facets of football and eISL is another exciting platform to engage the growing number of young football fans in India with the rapidly growing online gaming spectrum.
NODWIN Gaming will be the tournament organizer for eISL.
The first edition of eISL is set to debut alongside ISL season 2021-22 from November 20.
The eISL finals will be held on March 20 with a prize pool of Rs 74 lakh and an additional Rs 4 lakh for the season MVP.
22 esports athletes, 11 male and 11 female, will represent all 11 ISL clubs, driving inclusivity with the growing female presence in the esports arena.
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A total of 117 matches will be played as this new esports tournament in collaboration with NODWIN Gaming and EA SPORTSTM will determine the champion of the eISL and will also be an official league qualifying event to the EA SPORTSTM FIFA22 GLOBAL SERIES (FGS) Playoffs.
Aspiring EA SPORTSTM FIFA 22 esports athletes of the country will compete in a total of 11 online qualifiers. Each qualifier will determine the representatives for the 11 clubs - 1 qualifier per club.
Each club will play 2 athletes - 1 male & 1 female. An additional 12th all-female qualifiers will determine the selection of the female players in each club. The rest of the 11 qualifiers will be held in the order of the final ISL 2020-21 season standings.
The tournament will have online qualifiers, regular season and grand finals. The clubs will play round-robin matches alongside the inaugural eISL season and a leader board will be put in place.
The top 4 clubs will advance to the Grand Finals. The finalists will play in a double-elimination format to determine the winner.
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Keeping the safety measures in place, a bio-secure bubble will be set up for players in Gurugram, Haryana during the course of the eISL season.
Martin Bain, chief executive officer at FSDL, said, "Fan engagement is one of the key factors to building a sport and expanding its footprint.
"The growing online gaming landscape in India provides a great opportunity to engage with the next generation of fans in the country. The esports experience is vital to the future of football and we continue to evolve towards its growth." "eISL is an exciting platform and we are confident that it will lead the evolution of fan engagement and contribute significantly to boost the sport’s popularity in the country."
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