SK Gaming and Eintracht Spandau support e-sports organisations

With SK Gaming and Eintracht Spandau, two renowned e-sports organisations are joining the e-sports association structure in Germany. The scene urgently needs more weight, which can only be achieved by uniting the scene.

Good news for the E-Sport Bund Deutschland (ESBD). In November, the central association gained a prominent member in the form of Eintracht Spandau. The ESBD also announced that SK Gaming, one of the oldest e-sports organisations in Germany, is supporting the association structures in e-sports and has joined the state association for e-sports in North Rhine-Westphalia, e-sport NRW. e-sport NRW is also a member of the ESBD, meaning that the Cologne-based e-sports organisations are also supporting the central association, at least indirectly.

The new members want to use their membership to further promote the scene in Germany. "We have worked with great commitment on the E-Sport Vision 2030, which addresses a number of important issues. Now it is time to put our words into action. Joining the e-sports associations is an important first step towards achieving these goals as a united industry," says Alexander T. Müller, Managing Director of SK Gaming. Johannes Gorzel, co-managing director of Eintracht Spandau, adds: "In e-sports, we need to develop a greater awareness of the need to promote our common interests. This includes dialogue with political and social stakeholders and the further development of our themes. Long-term involvement in the e-sports associations, which are both a voice and a platform, is an important prerequisite for this".

The memberships are necessary for the ESBD. Founded in 2017 by parts of the German e-sports scene, the association received a lot of attention, especially in its initial phase, and was able to celebrate early successes, including the fact that the grand coalition elected at the time included the recognition of non-profit status in its coalition agreement. However, politicians failed to implement this. But there was no progress within the scene either: the ESBD was slow to convince other e-sports organisations of the need for membership. Another rift was the founding of the European umbrella organisation Esports Europe Federation (EEF) in 2020, of which little has been heard since. In the same year, the ESBD's busy but not uncontroversial founding president, Hans Jagnow, left for the ESL, now the ESL Faceit Group, and the association had to reorganise itself. Since then, the ESBD has driven forward many projects, but has been less effective in the public eye, which has caused it to recede into the background, at least in terms of public perception. This could now change. Perhaps the recognition of non-profit status, which is actually desired by all political parties, will become a reality.