North American football league United Soccer League (USL) has announced a partnership with fan engagement platform Rival for an upcoming eFootball tournament series.
The partnership will be focused on the launch of a new USL gaming community, allowing the league to use Rival’s platform to create tournaments and boost engagement between followers, teams and players.
The United Soccer League is the second tier of football in the United States, positioned below the Major League Soccer. The USL operates seven total leagues, with more than 200 clubs in the country, and offers a path to professional football through its several tiers. The most-known USL league is the USL Championship, which serves as the official tier-two football competition in the United States.
The partnership with Rival expands the league’s esports efforts. The USL has worked with game developer and publisher KONAMI, the creators of the eFootball game series, since 2021. KONAMI’s president Yuta Kose noted that the company shares the same values as USL and that the project will create a fandom uniquely made on the virtual field.
The USL esports projects will be a part of the USL Esports Hub on the Rival platform, where tournaments and activations will be hosted.
The first event will be the upcoming eFootball tournament which will start on August 22nd and is open for all interested console and mobile players. The best-performing players will receive a Turtle Beach Stealth gaming headset, as well as two tickets for an USL match of their choice and 100 eFootball points.
USL Chief Commercial Officer Court Jeske commented on the partnership: “We are thrilled to enter the next phase of our gaming strategy by partnering with Rival to host our first KONAMI eFootball tournament.
“Next week’s competition brings players a new level of excitement and opportunity to measure their skills while fostering new connections to our clubs and players.”
