The unexpected helper of esports. Covid started a new kind of football in the Czech Republic

Covid changed a lot of things in the Czech Republic, and one of them was the emergence of esports.

“Everything has closed, including football. Spectators could not go to stadiums, everyone was locked at home, and many more people, including children, began to spend time virtually. That was the moment when we said to ourselves: “Yeah, this is the right moment to step into it,” says the manager of Slavia Prague, Martin Benda, about the moment when the seamers decided to go all-in on virtual football.

The esports team was founded in Slavia a little earlier, but it took a real shape in the times of covid.

Benda works in Slavia in the marketing department. The Vršovice club was interested in a relatively new industry even before it actively entered it. “We were looking for the right time. We started thinking about it already in the 2017/18 season, but we still lacked a proper ‘underground’ in the Czech Republic for it to make sense, so that we don’t just play for ourselves,” he explains.

And the pods came with covid caps.

Sparta, the biggest rival, entered the world of virtual sports earlier. AC Sparta Prague ticketing manager Pavel Kubát points out that Letenští were the first sports club to enter esports in 2018. “Examples from abroad showed that in electronic sports there is a steep upward trend in viewership, prize money (rewards for winning), sponsorship and other aspects. Another motive was to use the project to reach the young generation, which is not affected by traditional communication tools, to bring them closer and connect them with the Sparta brand, which can be a promise in the future that they will become fans of the soccer Sparta as well,” he says.

The vast majority of prize pool money (rewards for winning tournaments) is received from sponsors in tournaments, both managers agreed. Spartan esports marketing manager Jakub Faul added that historically it was mainly manufacturers of computers, peripherals, processors and the like. “However, in recent years, these brands have been supplemented by companies from other segments, such as betting offices, car manufacturers, banks, delivery companies, food manufacturers and others. There are also game studios that themselves contribute to prize pools in the biggest tournaments in their games, the most famous of which are Riot Games, Blizzard and EA Sports.”

“The exception is The International tournament, which is organized by the publisher of the Dota 2 game – studio Valve. Since 2015, the prize money for the tournament has been largely financed (over 90 percent) by the community itself, which can purchase a so-called battle pass in the game during the year. It will give purchasing players access to premium virtual items and the world’s best players at the same time contribute to the prize pool, which will reach a record $40 million in 2021,” explained Faul.

Benda noted that Slavia is lucky in this regard, as it has been cooperating with Samsung and CZC.cz for a long time. “We get clothes and shoes from Puma, and even esports players have to represent the brand. But I think they are happy for it, they can identify with footballers who have the same situation, they also wear club kits,” he believes.

Although, according to Faul, Czech esports has moved a lot in recent years, there are still big differences. “The budgets of domestic tournament organizers and the esports teams themselves are many times smaller than those of the world,” he points out.

This is also confirmed by Benda. “The basic difference is in the finances and what we put into it humanly. Abroad, of course, they can invest more in it, because they have bigger budgets, more partners and a bigger following. In our country, the manager of the esports team deals with the analysis, but abroad they have systems with a larger number of people, they analyze the game more in depth. For example, they have their own physiotherapists, psychological experts, in short, more people make a greater effect,” he emphasized.

According to Slavia representative Jakub, “Cpt. Kubajze” It made a huge difference. “After the first qualification, I was 135th in Europe and out of a total of 512 players, there were three of us Czechs. Compared to countries like England, France, Spain, Italy or Germany, which are football powerhouses, there is a big difference in talent and preparation. Theirs is far more sophisticated. In European tournaments, 32 players will reach the final play-off and most of them are from these countries. Sometimes they are joined by countries like Denmark or Sweden, but these are individuals and the biggest stars of that country. We can compare ourselves with Croatia, for example, but the best countries are much further away,” he says.

Benda also sees a parallel in esports with real football. “Our football clubs can also progress to the elite, for example the Champions League, but not regularly. In order to improve and catch up with the better countries, we need two things: confidence and improving the individual skills of the players. The strength of Czech football and esports players is in team performance. If we have any quality players here on the esports scene, it’s more in collective games like Counter-Strike,” he says.

When asked if their team organizes matches with foreign clubs, Benda replied that in the past the Slavists practiced it more often. “During covid it was a good opportunity to connect with the teams and then we streamed the games. Later, however, it just came down to the fact that when football club Slavia played a match in the European Cup, we teamed up with the opponent to see if they had an esports team, and in that case we played against each other. But there is not much space for other matches, because we are busy preparing and playing competitive matches in leagues and championships, and it is a problem to agree on a date with the opponent,” he explained.

Jakub “Cpt. Kubajz” Pudil also pointed out that in esports Czech clubs do not have such a name that the opponent knows the player by name. “We are not an attractive enough opponent for them. For example, I know that a foreign opponent fielded its B-team against a Czech club. But when Slavia played against Feyenoord in the Conference League, Julian van de Beek played against me for the Dutch club. At the time he had a streak of 300 wins and no defeats in the Weekend League and that still qualified from the Weekend League for European tournaments. So he was a very famous player and I beat him,” he boasted.

Faul also mentioned that at the beginning of February this year, the Sparta team played a friendly match against Eintracht Frankfurt from the Bundesliga and won it convincingly 3-0 on matches. “We and the fans enjoyed it, so we are already in the process of planning the next event. We would like to play against someone from Scandinavia,” he prefaced.

As for transfers between clubs, according to the managers, they are not as common as in real football. Kubát pointed out that the Letenské esports team has been together for quite a long time. “Players Jan ‘Emerickson’ Krupička, Martin ‘Caster’ Štěpán and Jan ‘The Johny’ Hradil have been with us for years. This year they were joined by Dominik ‘Seron’ Čermák, who we didn’t even think would be available on the ‘open market’. When this opportunity arose, we did not hesitate, because in the case of Seron, we are talking about the Top 3 players in the Czech Republic. If he wasn’t free, we would most likely continue with the same composition as last season. We do not attract or appeal to players in any special way, we believe that the connection with the strongest sports brand in the Czech Republic, Sparta, is an attraction in itself,” he thinks.

Benda added that each player has individual motivation and it cannot be completely generalized. “We at Slavia do not want the players to make decisions in the style of: “We have these benefits, such equipment and we will offer such money. Do you take it or not?” It is very important for us to know the relationship of the player to the brand. That’s why it was always important for us, when we talked with a player, that he either had a positive attitude towards Slavia, or at least a neutral one.”

“One time we made an exception by taking a player who had not resolved his relationship with Slavia. However, after half a year, we said goodbye because we found out that it was not meaningful, that it was actually just about money. We want that player to have added value, that he can work in Slavia, that he wants to represent the club and participate in its development, and not just grab a reward and go home,” explained the esports intention of the stitched players.

Faul mentions that promotion among the European esports elite is a priority for Sparta. “The path leads through the e:League, where two players from the winning team will advance directly to the preliminary round of the EA Sports Global Series 2023.”

Benda, however, talks about a brutal network in the case of promotion to the eChampions League, where many great players will end up. “The reason is the huge number of matches you have to go through to progress. I would like some Czech player to advance there. Although we have interesting players, the sieve is set in such a way that even the best players end up. It is also about luck, chance, a good mental attitude or good training for this period. It all has to come together,” he says.