Yesterday it was revealed that Arsenal’s majority shareholder Stan Kroenke is forming an esports team – now another owner of an English football club is getting in on the action.
QPR owner Tony Fernandes – who is also group CEO of AirAsia – has put out a video backing his new esports team.
The AirAsia Allstars Esports Club will be participating in the Selangor Cyber Games at Malaysia’s Paradigm Mall this weekend (August 12th to 13th).
The airline’s esports team will be entering into the Dota 2 and FIFA tournaments, which have respective prize pools of 50,000MYR and 30,000MYR (around £9,000 and £5,000).
AirAsia has had some activity in esports in the past, but mainly as a sponsor. This is the first tournament it’s taking part in with its own team.
“AirAsia Allstars Esports Club is super excited and looking forward to participate in our first ever esports tournament.”
The team said in a statement on their Facebook page: “AirAsia Allstars Esports Club is super excited and looking forward to participate in our first ever esports tournament at the Selangor Cyber Games 2017!
“We’re still new in esports; some of us are still learning how to play League of Legends, Dota 2, FIFA and many more game genres.
“We look forward in engaging with the esports community.”
They also asked their followers for their thoughts on various esports team jersey designs.
You can see more pictures and player names in this Facebook post.
Tony added in a lighthearted comment: “Good luck to the Allstars Esports Club. By the way I’m one of the best in FIFA, so I’m looking for anyone who wants to get their asses kicked. Why wasn’t I in the esports team?”
You can check out Tony Fernandes’ brief video and comment below:
Yesterday Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke bought a Los Angeles spot in the Overwatch League.
And last year, US NBA basketball club The Philadelphia 76ers acquired controlling stakes in Team Dignitas. The Sixers are owned by an investor group led by Joshua Harris, who also has a stake in English Premier League football club Crystal Palace.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
