Sports organizations have been attempting to break into the esports scene for years now. Esports is a growing industry and traditional sports organizations are excited to utilize their years of experience in this new frontier. NBA teams, NHL teams, and dozens of football clubs now hold some stake in various sectors of the esports landscape. One of those football clubs' esports divisions has just expanded into the Dota 2 world through its investment in Lgd Gaming. What does this mean for these two entities?

PSG eSports

Besides not knowing how to spell esports correctly, PSG eSports is actually quite accomplished in the games that they have played in.

In FIFA, they have several first place results at the Electronic Sports World Cup 2016 and the Legia Esports Club 2016. In Rocket League, they have first place results at ESL France: 2017 and DreamHack Open Leipzig 2018. The esports sector of the French organization was first founded in 2016 under the leadership of former professional "League of Legends" player, Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim. His experience in the industry has and will continue to ensure the organization's prosperity going forward.

LGD Gaming

While PSG eSports is still very much in its infantile state, LGD Gaming has a long history in "Dota 2" and "League of Legends." Actually, the organization started out, as a team, playing the original Dota competitively in 2009, and only creating it's "Dota 2" and "League of Legends" teams in 2012.

LGD also has a sister team in "Dota 2" known as LGD.Forever Young (LFY), and was the also creator of the team CDEC, the recipient of the infamous Million Dollar Echo Slam. But even to this day, both LGD and LFY are formidable teams in "Dota 2" esports.

The partnership

In a press conference in Shanghai, Paris Saint-Germain eSports presented the news that they were going to claim a stake in the LGD Gaming "Dota 2" team.

It is important to clarify that only the main "Dota 2" team will be under the PSG brand. The League of Legends roster and LDG.Forever Young will remain unaffected by this partnership. With that being said, the former LGD "Dota 2" team will now be playing under the banner of PSG.LGD. PSG eSports made specific mention of the fact that LGD has participated in every International since the organization entered "Dota 2."

Another China year

What's interesting about this move by PSG eSports is that they've chosen to sign a Chinese team in particular.

In the press conference, they referred to Asia as a strategic region for PSG. But from the perspective of someone familiar with "Dota 2" esports, there is another layer to this decision. Whether you want to consider this a coincidental pattern, superstition, or the hands of fate, it is a fact that a Chinese team has won every other TI tournament.

Invictus Gaming won TI 2, Newbee won TI 4, and Wings handily took the victory at TI 6. Many people are referring to 2018 as a "China year" for "Dota 2." And while this would be a silly notion for a company to base a business decision on, it has application outside of actually winning The International. Fans have an incredible amount of faith in this cycle.

Because of it, people who may not usually cheer for LGD Gaming might find themselves doing so regardless. This presents a good opportunity for PSG to get more recognition and hype from the tournament.
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