Dressage World Cup at Herning, Denmark is First FEI eSports Venture
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Oct. 18, 2018
The dressage World Cup event at Herning, Denmark this weekend will be the first International Equestrian Federation (FEI) venture into esports with the launch of its first official digital fan series.
The FEI in partnership with SAP, a global enterprise application software company, debuts the FEI eLeague Dressage at Herning, the first Western European League (WEL) World Cup event in the lineup of 10 qualifiers leading to the final in Gothenburg, Sweden next April. World Cup events in Central Europe, Asia Pacific and North American leagues that have been underway for several months are not part of this year’s esports undertaking.
The esports program that the FEI described as “giving fans the opportunity to engage with the sport on a higher level,” is centered on spectator judging that is now widely used around the world, including championships such as the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina last month.
The FEI eLeague dressage relies on a new gamification ranking functionality in which users collect points by participating in spectator judging throughout the 2018/2019 World Cup WEL season, both onsite and online.
Additional options to collect points will be added over time, for example by interacting with the FEI TV channels or posting individual user-generated content. A Live-leaderboard on the FEI website will display current ranking of eLeague participants as well as in the Spectator Judging app, so fans can track their progression.
The overall winner after the last qualifier in the WEL season, at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands next Mar. 14-17, will receive a VIP trip for two persons to the dressage World Cup Final in Gothenburg , Sweden April 3-7 .
“The FEI eLeague Dressage is the future of fan engagement,” claimed FEI Commercial Director Ralph Straus. “Fans will participate actively in the series, not only by judging, but also by sharing content. Together with SAP we are committed to audience engagement and we hope that equestrian fans all over the world will enjoy this exciting opportunity.”
The Spectator Judging app is the result of a collaboration between SAP and software development company Black Horse One of Munich, Germany. The app is free on iTunes and Google Play
