Belgian football club Club Brugge has announced its involvement in the betFirst Elite Series, Belgian’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) league organised by Benelux esports agency META.
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The announcement sees the club expand its esports label, eClubBrugge, into CS:GO for the first time. Last month, the club announced that Quentin ‘QTN_11_’ Silini would represent its FIFA21 esports division in the Belgian Proximus eProLeague.
According to the release, eClubBrugge’s entry into the betFirst Elite Series will help expand the club’s reach in the esports sector. The expansion into CS:GO is expected to provide its partners with more visibility, whilst also offering increased coverage from the club’s in-house media arm.
League operator META (formerly 4Entertainment), is the official operator of League of Legends esports’ Dutch and Belgian Leagues, Rainbow Six Siege Benelux League, as well as the Belgian College League.
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“We are incredibly thrilled for the start of the Elite Series.” Steven Leunens, Director of Operations at META, told Esports Insider. “With amazing partners on board like betFIRST, the best regional esports teams, and strong newcomers to CS:GO such as eClubBrugge, it’s looking to become an exciting first season after quite some time away from CS:GO for META.”
The CS:GO league starts in February, featuring six top teams from the Benelux region competing for a share of the €15,000 (~£13,305) prize pool.
Esports Insider says: The latest entry of a Benelux football club into a traditional esport suggests that the esports scene in the region is finally beginning to see the benefit of increased viewership and exposure. With more sponsorship investment in the space, it’s likely that Club Brugge will not be the only side looking to expand further into esports.