Esports will generate more than £1bn in global revenue and almost double its audience to nearly 600 million people by 2020, forecasters predict.
“It has the potential to become one of the top five sports in the world,” said Pete Warman of eSport analysts Newzoo.
French football club Paris St-Germain has created an eSports team.
“Esport for us is a way to find a new fan of the brand, not necessarily focus on the soccer,” Fabien Allegre, PSG’s director of merchandising and brand diversification, told BBC Sport.
“The idea is to bring the club to a large number of people who don’t know anything about football.”
Manchester City and West Ham have already signed players of the Fifa football game to represent them, but no British club has set up a dedicated esports team.
Allegre believes it is the “future” for football clubs and predicts the creation of an online Champions League-style competition between clubs that own esports franchises.
“It’s more than a marketing stunt,” says Warman. “Football clubs see this opportunity as a strategic part of their franchise. Sports clubs are now dependent on revenues that come from areas outside of their league so this is their marketing objective.
“They are only dipping their toes into it right now but their expectations are long-term and very large.
“Esports is completely global, with hundreds of millions of viewers, so it would take their brand across the globe.”
Full story @ BBC