Leeds United partners with NiP to start FIFA team in the ePremier League

English professional football club Leeds United have established a partnership with longstanding esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The alliance centers around FIFA — specifically for the third season of the ePremier League, the official esports league associated with the top flight of English football.

Leeds United have joined the ePremier League after being promoted to the Premier League for the 2020/21 season.

At the time of publication, Ninjas in Pyjamas have one FIFA player; Swedish player Olle ‘Ollelito’ Arbin joined the organization in February 2020.

The ePremier League was confirmed to return for its third season on November 26. It has a combined prize purse of £40,000 across PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and will see FIFA players represent Premier League clubs.

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“Promotion to the Premier League has given the club some amazing opportunities so far with involvement in the ePremier League the latest chance for the club to grow and impress,” said Leeds United’s executive director Paul Bell.

“Just as Marcelo has done with the men’s first team, we intend on making our presence in the league known and being competitive straight away, creating a partnership with NiP will give us a fantastic foundation to do so. Bring it on.”

The competition starts with online qualification in January 2021, with representatives for each team competing to see who will advance to online playoffs. In-person finals are expected to take place in the spring, though dates are yet to be confirmed.

The ePremier League finals will once again be broadcast across Sky Sports, Premier League’s digital channels, and EA SPORTS’ FIFA channel on Twitch.

In the second season of the tournament, Watford emerged victorious with Tom ‘Hashtag Tom’ Leese taking the top spot and the £20,000 first-place prize. Bournemouth, Chelsea, and Liverpool rounded out the top four finishers.