The DFL is staging the first matchday of the 2023/24 VBL Club Championship season at Strassen Base in Cologne. It is just the starting signal for a season with more offline presence
While all tournaments in the new FC Pro eSports ecosystem have so far been held online, the DFL wants to present a contrasting trend at its FC 24 kick-off. The first matchday of the 2023/24 season in the VBL Club Championship will be an offline event.
The eSports teams of all 35 participating clubs will be on site. In the North-West, the first matchday includes small Rhine and Ruhr derbies between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen as well as VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund. In the south-east, for example, the VBL premiere of German record champions FC Bayern Munich against Karlsruher SC is on the program.
Two more offline match days – in front of spectators?
The season opener should not be unique: According to eSports information, the DFL is planning two more match days as offline events that have not yet been scheduled. It is possible that spectators and members of the press will then also be admitted, which will initially not take place on November 18 and 19.
In the past two seasons of the VBL Club Championship, only the final round was played on site in Cologne. The trend now points towards an increased offline presence. This fits in with the growing importance of national leagues such as the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) in FC Pro. The new eSports system for EA SPORTS FC 24 envisages that 28 of the 32 World Cup participants will ultimately be determined via these leagues.
