The current four-time defending champion in the Philippines Football League (PFL), United City Football Club (UCFC) launches its eSports division to be known as “UCFC Esports.” This initiative is part of UCFC’s commitment to be the best of the best in Asia — be it on the football field or in a professional gaming environment — and by being true to their mission of inspiring the next generation of fans and followers of professional sports.
“The global growth of esports has been tremendous, and we are fortunate that the Philippines’ esports scene is growing rapidly, which paves a great path for us to take on this venture. We are very serious about expanding our horizons to a younger demographic, and we set out to replicate the sporting success of our football division, with our esports division to adhere to the same mission and values that the club has already established. We are further excited to bring professional gaming with us as part of our LGU partnership with Clark City and the Pampanga and Tarlac region – a sport that has seen tremendous growth, support, and interest by the local communities,” according to Eric Gottschalk, CEO at United City Football Club.
At present, there is an estimated 45 million gamers just in the Philippines, with some of the key titles having over 10 million followers and games participating in organized competitions. In their pursuit of excellence in developing champions, UCFC Esports has tapped the white label esports management services of BrenPro Inc., the corporation notable for owning and managing Bren Esports, one of the leading esports organizations in Southeast Asia.
“We tapped BrenPro’s esports management services as we identified them to be the right partners for us to create and develop champions which will allow us to emulate our success in football. Their values, mission, and vision for the development of the Esports community in the Philippines, in general, align very well with our ambitions as a sports organization, and we would like to thank the team of BrenPro for their support and commitment to helping us establish a competitive esport division in such a short period of time,” added Gottschalk.
Established in 2017, Bren Esports immediately found success and has since then become a leading esports organization in the Philippines who is also known to have one of the biggest esports training facilities in Southeast Asia.
Bernard Lu Chong, CEO at Bren Esports said, “Our formula for success is that we instill excellence in every step of the way, which enables us to groom and develop future esports champions. We are definitely committed and confident that we can guide and shape UCFC Esports to be a leading esports contender not just locally but globally.”
For its entry into esports, UCFC Esports will focus on four esports titles, namely Valorant, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and FIFA 2021, which have been identified as relevant in the current local esports scene. The official roster for each esports title announcement will be made on UCFC Esports official Facebook page (facebook.com/ucfcesports), while a dedicated fan membership and a jersey design contest will be the first interactions with the new fan communities of UCFC.
Popular foreign footbal clubs like A.S. Roma, Beşiktaş Istanbul JK, Ajax Amsterdam, FC Bayern München, FC Schalke 04, and Paris Saint-German all have their own eSports team for years now.