EFL Championship Club to Offer Tournaments & Experiences with New Gaming Platform

NEW YORK (Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022) – Burnley Football Club of the EFL Championship today announced the launch of its online gaming community with fan engagement platform Rival.

Rival will power the club’s gaming community, extending its footprint with Burnley’s esports team, offering tournaments across a variety of game tiles, with opportunities for fan rewards and other experiences.

“Over the last three years, our Esports offering has gone from strength to strength,” said Steve Hawthorn, Head of Esports for Burnley FC. “It includes a FIFA Pro team that has finished in the top 8 in Europe in the FIFAe Club World Cup, and we have an Esports Academy in partnership with Burnley College running a BTEC in Esports. The missing piece was to connect fans and gamers with Burnley FC by offering them a platform in which they can compete in tournaments run by the club on the titles they love. Rival was the perfect platform for this, and we are thrilled at the partnership and what it has to offer.” 

Burnley will leverage Rival’s leading fan engagement platform to facilitate gaming leagues and virtual tournaments, including FIFA and other game titles including Rocket League, Valorant and Overwatch. Rival powers the gaming communities for more than 40 partners worldwide, across sports properties, media, tech and brands, including 10 European football clubs and three MLS clubs.

“As an engagement platform, Rival is thrilled to expand on Burnley’s esports initiatives with the launch of its gaming community,” said Rival CMO Dan Parise. “We look forward to working together and providing additional marketing levers to reach fans, while also identifying innovative integrations for the club’s corporate sponsors.”

With the launch of Burnley’s gaming community, Rival will also be integrated into the club’s esports initiatives, including branding on Burnley’s esports team jerseys and other marketing channels.

The first tournaments on the Rival platform will be FIFA tournaments on both XBOX and PlayStation consoles, open to players of all ages. The winner on each console will win the new Burnley FC Home Shirt, signed by the first team and manager Vincent Kompany. There will also be Rival Points up for grabs. The points you earn over the season can earn you prizes including signed shirts, tickets to events and other money can’t buy experiences.

To join the Burnley F.C. Gaming community and enter tournaments, fans can visit www.rivalgames.com/burnleyfc