BURNLEY FC ESPORTS PARTNERS WITH BURNLEY COLLEGE

Club and college will work together to promote the business side of Esports with industry experience and education coming together

College will act as a feeder hub for Pro Esports teams

Burnley FC Esports are delighted to announce a new partnership with Burnley College to promote Esports both in the education sector and in business.

Burnley College has developed a new BTEC qualification in Esports, which not only focuses on gaming, but also teaches students about business marketing, design, event planning, production, broadcasting, and journalism. This highlights a few of the pathways into this exciting industry that are available to students who succeed on the course, or those that want to take their learning to another level.

Ed Foulds, Burnley College’s Digital and Esports Curriculum Manager, said: “This is such an incredible opportunity for our learners to be playing for the Burnley FC Esports academy teams.

"Through this partnership we are founding the Elite Esports Athlete Programme where the next generation of Burnley FC Pro players will be scouted, compete for the development squad, receive elite level coaching and analysis, and develop their skills through the input of industry leading lecturers, coaches and current club professionals.”.

Burnley FC’s Head of Esports, Steve Hawthorn, said: “It’s great to have a Premier League football club partner with their local college, on such an exciting and evolving project.

"Burnley College, which has recently been ranked number one for pass rates in England by the government, demonstrate a thirst to innovate and put technology at the forefront of everything they do.

"The Esports partnership was a win-win for both the club and the college, as their course attracts the best gamers and Esports personnel with their state-of-the-art facilities and our global brand can further elevate this.

"We look forward to working with their diverse and wide-ranging talent to develop the next Pro Esports Players for Burnley FC and as there is so much synergy between football and Esports in terms of analysis, nutrition and media that we may even find careers paths in other areas of the club also”.

The partnership sees the new facility named as the “Burnley FC Esports Academy” and players from the college will represent Burnley FC Esports as the new academy team named “BEES” in the National Esports League on titles such as Rocket League and Overwatch. Some players will also join up with the Burnley FC Esports Pro’s in the FIFA 22 Global Series.

There are plans over time to increase the size of the joint facilities used at both the college and Turf Moor as the course and teams expand.

Over the last 10 years Esports has grown exponentially and is on course to become a $2 Billion industry, with new Esports arenas being introduced all over the world as demand continues to grow.

You can watch how Burnley FC Esports teams get on this season in all tournaments by following the official Burnley FC Twitch channel https://twitch.tv/burnleyfc.