First pro sports club to acquire an eSports team

On 20 January 2015, Turkish sports organization Beşiktaş Istanbul – owner of the famous Beşiktaş soccer team – acquired the Turkish League of Legends side Aces High, becoming the first professional sports club to move into eSports. The eSports outfit was renamed Beşiktaş e-Sports Club and enjoyed success in the Turkish Champions League (TCL) before competing on the world stage. However, the players' contracts were not renewed in January 2016 and the team's spot in the TCL was acquired by the eSports team SuperMassive. Since Beşiktaş opened its eSports team, several other pro soccer clubs have followed suit. In May 2016, German Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04 bought the <i>League of Legends</i> team Elements.

At the time of the acquisition, a Beşiktaş spokesman said: “As always, we are the first to do something revolutionary in the history of Turkish sports. The world is changing, and for our new generation, computers and the internet mean a lot. Thanks to our friends, we now have a new unit that will not compete on the field, but online.”