First Finals of the Düsseldorf Cup 2024, Lord Mayor Crowns Champions

On 15 January, Dr Stephan Keller, Lord Mayor of the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, honoured the winners of the first esports tournament for companies from the Düsseldorf region, the Düsseldorf Cup 2024, at the town hall.

At the Düsseldorf Cup, employers from different industries compete in Rocket League to win the city championship. Selected employees from the companies form the "factory teams". At the premiere of the event series, teams from Fortuna Düsseldorf, Ergo Group, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, DZ Bank, Pirates'n'Paradise and the City of Düsseldorf competed for the trophy and medals.

"The first Düsseldorf Cup has shown how companies in our region can network innovatively and digitally to exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere," says Lord Mayor Dr Stephan Keller. "This promotes team spirit and creates new connections that can also be beneficial in the working world. I am therefore delighted to honour the winning teams and thank all those involved in making this exciting competition possible."

In the finals, the city of Düsseldorf beat the Ergo Group. The team from Fortuna Düsseldorf came in 3rd place with a narrow victory over the team from DZ Bank. The Düsseldorf Cup is not a professional tournament, although the title was fought for in front of a live online audience on Twitch.

"Ergo is delighted to have won the Vice-Championship at the first Düsseldorf Cup in Rocket League! The competition was fierce, but our two ERGO teams showed that team spirit and strategy are the keys to success. As one of Europe's most innovative insurers, we have been convinced of the power of esSports for years and have been title partner of the DFB ePokal (German Football Association ePokal) since 2020. We see the support of the gaming sector as part of our comprehensive digital strategy, especially with regard to the metaverse," explains Matthias Nawrocki (Head of Metaverse / Immersive Experience at the ERGO Group).

Kai Niemann (Director of Communications at Fortuna Düsseldorf) sums it up: "Our first participation in the Düsseldorf Cup was fun and rewarding. The mixture of competition and a relaxed atmosphere in a digital environment creates a perfect climate for exchanging ideas with other companies from our city. And of course it is something very special for our employees to be able to wear our colours as players in an official competition."

The Düsseldorf Cup is organised by Werksliga, the first continuous gaming and esports league for companies in the GSA region. The Werksliga is a joint project of Düsseldorf-based innovation agency Fusion Campus and Krefeld-based esports and gaming production company TaKeTV.

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