Football club Wolves have become the first English Premier League team to enter the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS).
The newly formed Wolves team will be competing in the RLCS X Winter Split.
The team is made up of a trio of players, led by team captain Rix Ronday (Netherlands), who joins Wolves from Libertas. Luis ‘LuiisP’ Puente Peña (Spain/Germany) joins from Edelweiss Esports and Ole ‘Oaly’ Van Doorn (Netherlands) arrives from UK org Barrage Esports.
On the announcement, Russell Jones, Wolves general manager for marketing and commercial growth, said: “We are thrilled to announce the launch of a Wolves esports Rocket League team. Millions of people around the world are playing Rocket League and, given its similarities to football, it felt like the perfect next step into esports.
“Gaming and esports remain a crucial part of our brand growth strategy. Signing such talented and ambitious players to represent our Rocket League esports team is another step forward in our journey to build stories outside of football and widen the appeal of the Wolves brand across the world.
“We have spent the last six months scouting teams and players and are delighted to welcome Rix, Luis and Ole, who will become Wolves Esports for the remainder of the current RLCS season X and beyond. We will be offering the team our full support as they compete in the Winter Split.”
Rix Ronday, team captain of Wolves Esports Rocket League team, added: “It is a real honour to captain the first ever Wolves Esports Rocket League team. I’m confident that we have recruited two of Rocket League’s most exciting talents in Ole and Luis and we are working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the RLCSX Winter Split kick off.
“Rocket League is a really fast paced game with many similarities to football, so we hope Wolves fans will enjoy tuning in to watch the action.”
A few weeks ago, Ole’s former side, Barrage, issued a statement on the player’s ‘unprofessional conduct’.
This move adds to Wolves’ growing esports repertoire of PUBG, Identity V, FIFA 21, FIFA Online 4 and Pop Kart Racing.
The RLCSX Winter Split will kick off on November 12th at 4pm GMT, with Europe’s first Winter Split regional event.
Rocket League has a growing base of UK talent, with teams including Endpoint, David Beckham’s Guild Esports, Barrage, Team Liquid and others featuring players or coaches from the UK.
You can read more about Wolves Esports plans in our interview with them here, which was conducted back in the summer.
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.
