Football Delhi (Delhi Soccer Association), the official governing body of football for India’s capital state, Delhi, announced today their partnership with Irony Inc. – an esports company that specializes in developing community-first esports programs. This partnership will create a community of “Gamers of Delhi”, that provides a gaming platform for football and gaming enthusiasts in Delhi.
With Gen Z and Millennials spending a sizeable amount of their time on playing games and consuming esports content, the top global football leagues, associations, and teams have all launched their programs to engage the youth through esports. Football Delhi becomes the first Indian sports entity to venture into esports.
Shaji Prabhakaran, the President of Football Delhi, said that “It is important to integrate esports into our association activities for the larger good of the game and with pandemic esports have grown significantly in India, more and more football enthusiasts are actively seeking opportunities to game and find social connection via esports. That becomes a great avenue for football stakeholders such as us to engage with the youth and bring them into our community. In keeping with Football Delhi’s mission to enable ‘access to all, we will introduce a dedicated Football Delhi Gamers platform in tie-up with Irony, with a series of tournaments to grow and engage with our fan community.’’
“We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Football Delhi,” said Irony Co-Founders, Ankit Bhatia, and Tushaar Garg. “Football Delhi plays an important role in promoting Delhi’s football culture and community, and we are proud to help them create a comprehensive gaming and esports program that will endeavor to bring new audiences to the beautiful game in the state of Delhi”, they added.