Bayern Munich ponder venture into eSports

Rummenigge's Bayern is one of the few clubs in Germany's top flight to have no eSports department.

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says the German giants are looking into branching into eSports, despite previously having dismissed the idea.

"We have taken a more proactive stance now and conducted an analysis, that will soon be discussed within the board, to see if we can approach this issue," Rummenigge, 63, said at a sports business congress in Duesseldorf.

"We were not originally into the idea, because we did not like these shooting games."

Bayern seem to have done a complete u-turn on the topic of eSports after president Uli Hoeness dismissed the idea out of hand last August.

"Young people should take part in sports on the training ground," the 67-year-old Hoeness insisted at the time. "There is some interest in it at Bayern and I am against it, but in that regards I am relatively alone.

"I see a big problem coming our way – it should definitely not be part of the Olympics."

Unusually for Bayern, who have dominated the Bundesliga for the last four decades, they are lagging behind in eSports on the football side, but the club's basketball team supports the "Bayern Ballers Gaming" outfit in virtual sports.

Alongside current Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund, Bayern are one of the few other clubs in Germany's top flight to have no eSports department. Their league rivals Schalke are leading the way in Germany and late last year invested €8mil (RM37mil)  in a franchise licence for the League Of Legends European Championships.

"The franchise guarantees us years of economic security to continue to operate successfully and independently in eSports," Alexander Jobst, Schalke's chief marketing officer told the club's website.

The Bundesliga has launched an eSports version of the German league this season with clubs battling in online football matches, but neither Dortmund nor Bayern are involved in the competition. – AFP