The world of real sports and eSports are about to cross over in a major way, as the owners of the Minnesota Vikings get set to join a Call of Duty league.
For most people, their dream job involves being able to monetize doing what they love in some way. Whether that be writing, playing a certain sport, or in keeping with this article and our site in general, playing video games. In the past, the only way to achieve that was to become a video game developer or creator. Today, you can get paid insane amounts of money to simply sit there and play games.
We are right in the middle of an eSports boom, and it is an industry which is generating millions, if not billions of dollars worldwide. Ninja alone, who makes his living honing his craft on Fortnite, claims to have made a cool $10 million through his work in 2018 alone. You know the eSports industry is an affluent one when it catches the attention of something as big as an NFL franchise.
As reported by Sports Business Journal, that is exactly what is about to happen. The Wilf family, who own the Minnesota Vikings, is getting set to invest in its very own Call of Duty eSports team. The league will apparently begin in 2020 and already has franchises set up in Paris, Toronto, Dallas, and Atlanta.
This isn't your average CoD league by the way, in case you were thinking you can sign up and pit yourself against representatives from the Vikings. The franchise fee is reportedly in the region of $25 million. We certainly hope the prize money is worth that hefty price tag. Jeff Diamond's (former Vikings GM) son will be running the team, and Zygi Wilf's (current Vikings chairman) son Jonathan will be its president.
The Vikings might well be the first NFL franchise to start up their own eSports team, but they are certainly not the first to diversify. The owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both also own Premier League clubs in England. Plus, the son of Jaguars owner Shahid Khan has just started up his own wrestling promotion, AEW.