Hertha BSC extends its e-sports commitment to League of Legends. As the capital club announced on Thursday, the team will start in the second division of the league for the German-speaking countries, the Prime League.

"By expanding our e-sports activities, we want to draw the attention of the younger target groups to Hertha BSC in this segment as well and inspire them for our club," says Daniel Milleg, Member of the Executive Board. He does not reveal how much the capital club is investing in the new team - which is common in the industry.

Discover the next League of Legends Stars

The club pursues similar goals in League of Legends as with its previous commitment to the e-sports discipline FIFA: the Academy is intended to discover and build up the future e-sports stars.

Milleg speaks of a "digitization of football cages" - the places where new football talents grow up in Berlin. The concept fits in with the Prime League, which is also considered a talent pool for the teams in the highest European league LEC.

The team was set up with the goal of soon moving up to the 1st division of the league. For this, Hertha has signed both players with experience, but also newcomers. "I explained our plans to you. What is a great value for many: that you can work together as a team for longer and build something up," says Christian "Mantik" Kopf, who is helping to build up the team and has already worked at established German e-sports organizations such as SK Gaming and Mouz.

E-Sports ecosystem at Hertha

Hertha plans to build its own e-sports ecosystem. In addition to LoL and FIFA, other titles could follow. "We see e-sports as part of youth culture, which is not only firmly established today, but will rather continue to grow," says Milleg and also sees a certain responsibility in this. "Our e-athletes should live and teach a responsible approach to gaming." Shooters such as Valorant, Call of Duty or Counter-Strike are still excluded from future engagement.

League of Legends is considered the most successful e-sport worldwide. However, the World Cup, to which Hertha initially cannot qualify, reaches an audience of millions via video streams.