A Premier League season in which the title race and relegation battle were wrapped up with four games to go, and that saw the Champions come – for the 8th straight year in a row – from one of Manchester City or Liverpool, has done nothing to back up the ‘best league in the world’ myth.

Whilst there’s certainly no excitement to be had from the Premier League this season, or value in the online betting, the same cannot be said of the eSports alternative. The League itself were ahead of the game in adopting eSports as a way to engage with younger fans, and it’s an initiative that has proved incredibly successful.

In this article we take a closer look at the evolution of the eSports Premier League to give beleaguered OG Premier League fans a glimmer of hope.

The Start of the Partnership

It’s easy to forget, but competitive gaming was somewhat fringe until quite recently. Of course there have been huge tournaments for some time, but it wasn’t really until the mid-2010s that online gaming seemed to fully shake the reputation of being fringe, with games like Fortnite bringing it to the masses.

The fact then that the Premier League started its inaugural eSports league back in 2018 is testament to how forward thinking the organisation has been when it comes to commercial matter. Liverpool’s Donovan Hunt, better known as F1Tekkz was the first ever Champion.

Since then clubs have become way more interested, setting up their own teams, trading gamers from other teams and all in all, running things much in the same organised manner that they would a real life football team.

Much like in real life, money talks, which can be illustrated by the fact that Tekkz and Bonanno won the 2024/25 ePremier League for their club, Manchester City. It’s not just domestic glory that clubs are interested in either, with money being pumped into the sport to ensure that their virtual clubs are competing for the top European and international honours.

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(Manchester City beginning their title charge against Brighton in this season’s competition.)

Fan Engagement and Growth

Still, if you were to ask the average football fan who is the current ePremier League champion many would only be able get it right by virtue of taking an educated guess. That shouldn’t be seen as a sign of failure though; the ePremier League is never going to appeal to 45-year-old Crystal Palace fans.

Rather it is a league and an organisation designed to capture an altogether different demographic – children right up to younger millennials. Statistically, those who engage with eSports the most, by watching streams and following players online, are under the age of 18.

The rest of the demographic is made up of adults that have grown up with online gaming and are still interested it and that’s a group which typically starts to become a bit sparse halfway through the millennial generation.

Judging by the numbers, the Premier League’s efforts to engage these demographics are working well. During the most recent ePremier League final, viewing figures on Twitch peaked at 44,923 viewers which would be a good attendance at most Premier League grounds.

For those unfamiliar with Twitch viewing figures, that is a very large number for a live stream, particularly one that was on air for just under 24 hours.

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(Manchester city ending their title charge against Brighton in this season’s competition.)

What the Future Holds for the ePremier League

One of the biggest issues facing modern football is how clubs and leagues can engage younger fans. The game played on grass it seems – according to market research – is too long and too boring for the youth of today to enjoy.

The same cannot be said of eSports. Despite some tournaments lasting several days and streams stretching on for 24 hours, it is by its nature a more exciting and easily ‘clipable’ product than actual football.

Tournaments can be distilled down into 8-minute YouTube highlight packages. The goals scored are more spectacular than their real-life counterparts and the rivalries can be continued online and become more personal and entertaining.

In short then, the ePremier League can be everything that the OG Premier League is not in terms of commercial appeal to the younger generations. So, even without being an expert in eSports, it’s clear to see that the future holds considerable growth and success for the ePremier League.