Mediapro and La Liga launch new eSports tournament

Spanish broadcaster Mediapro is to launch a new eSports competition in partnership the country’s top-tier football league La Liga.

McDonald’s Virtual LaLiga eSports will be the first big project for LaLiga eSports, an initiative launched by La Liga in February to cash in on the eSports boom. La Liga said that the eSports project would roll out a number of “ambitious projects” with details to be revealed over the coming months, bringing together football and eSports.

The McDonald’s Virtual LaLiga eSports tournament will join the EA Sports FIFA 18 Global Series in Mediapro’s stable of eSports events.

Mediapro’s Liga de Videojuegos Profesional Mediapro will be responsible for the tournament, for which Mediapro has set the goal of becoming the competition of reference in the Spanish market.

The LaLiga eSports competition will take the form of the qualifiers for the EA Sports FIFA 18 Global Series Playoffs in June, which in turn lead on to the FIFA eWorld Cup.

The competition will comprise an online-only qualifying phase and a live event-based fina. The open qualifying phase will kick off on March 19, with 31 players – 16 on Xbox and 15 on PlayStation – to take part in the final.

La Liga said that in February that its eSports project would be rolled out nationally across Spain, with the aim or expanding internationally as it becomes more established.