NENT Group becomes joint owner and exclusive rights holder for Danish football eSports tournament

The Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group has acquired the exclusive pan-Nordic media rights to Denmark’s eSuperliga eSports tournament and become a joint owner of the competition.

The tournament will see the country’s best FIFA players, representing 15 top Danish football clubs, showcase their skills in eSuperliga with coverage shown live on NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service across the Nordic region.

Now entering its fourth year, eSuperliga is the biggest FIFA tournament in Denmark and is said to attract some of the largest audiences of any FIFA eSports competition globally.

Leading Danish Superliga clubs such as Brøndby IF, FC Midtjylland, AaB and FC Copenhagen all field eSuperliga teams, with two to five professional players per team.

The eSuperliga season, which starts on 11 March 2020, follows a similar structure to traditional football tournaments, with an initial group stage followed by knock-out rounds and a final. From the quarterfinals onwards, eSuperliga is played live in front of passionate stadium audiences. This year’s winners will receive nearly EUR 25,000 in prize money, along with the prestigious eSuperliga trophy.

In 2020, NENT Group will show around 200 hours of eSuperliga with live commentary, in addition to extensive studio programming featuring analysis, interviews and FIFA tutorials, with a focus on engaging the Nordic FIFA community.

NENT Group will also offer selected matches on its TV3 MAX channel in Denmark.

Kim Mikkelsen, NENT Group head of sport said: “We are the Nordic region’s leading streaming company and will soon reach 25 years of partnership with Danish football. Nobody delivers live sport like NENT Group. eSuperliga is a natural fit for our portfolio and we intend to develop the property further as co-owners over the coming years. Sports-related gaming is growing very fast and we are exploring additional opportunities to play in this exciting new field.”

eSuperliga is created by Divisionsforeningen, the Danish football club association, and operated by DreamHack Sports Games, part of the Modern Times Group.

DreamHack Sports Games operates FIFA leagues and tournaments in Sweden with eAllsvenskan and the Netherlands with eDivisie, in addition to the European eTour, a global eGolf tournament run in collaboration with the European Tour.

Claus Thomsen, the chief executive of Superligaen, added: “We are thrilled that we can now present one of the most competitive FIFA tournaments, eSuperliga, together with NENT Group. There is guaranteed drama in eSuperliga, and NENT Group will bring eSuperliga to the fans with a quality unmatched anywhere in the world.”